Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Receives C$67.22 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$67.22.

GWO has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$70.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$68.00 to C$70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$68.00 to C$66.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$67.00 to C$73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from C$67.00 to C$70.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of GWO stock opened at C$63.26 on Tuesday. Great-West Lifeco has a fifty-two week low of C$49.54 and a fifty-two week high of C$68.56. The firm has a market capitalization of C$57.33 billion, a PE ratio of 14.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.93, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a current ratio of 5.80. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is C$64.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$61.60.

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This is a boost from Great-West Lifeco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is presently 57.28%.

Great-West Lifeco Company Profile

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.