Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Shares Pass Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) shares passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$60.54 and traded as high as C$64.28. Great-West Lifeco shares last traded at C$63.84, with a volume of 1,959,800 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$60.00 to C$64.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$67.00 to C$73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$68.00 to C$66.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from C$67.00 to C$70.00 in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$67.22.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Up 0.1%

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is C$65.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$60.60. The stock has a market cap of C$57.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.53.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is 57.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 94,532 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$64.51, for a total transaction of C$6,098,259.32. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$317,131.16. This trade represents a 95.06% decrease in their position. 70.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Great-West Lifeco

Great-West Lifeco is one of the three big Canadian life insurance firms. With just under half of the firm’s profit and revenue in Canada, Great-West also operates in the U.S. and Europe. In Canada, Great-West provides both individual and group insurance. In the United States, Great-West operates Putnam Investments and defined-contribution recordkeeping firm Empower Retirement. In 2020, Great-West announced it would acquire Personal Capital and MassMutual’s recordkeeping business. In Europe, Great-West offers life insurance, annuities, and reinsurance primarily in the U.K., Ireland, and Germany.