Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Director Edmund Francis Murphy Sells 40,000 Shares

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$86.20, for a total transaction of C$3,448,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$757,180.80. The trade was a 81.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

Shares of GWO traded up C$2.61 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting C$88.55. 571,072 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,761,355. The stock has a market cap of C$79.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.69. Great-West Lifeco Inc. has a 1-year low of C$49.78 and a 1-year high of C$88.84. The company has a 50 day moving average of C$75.67 and a 200-day moving average of C$68.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a current ratio of 6.57.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$1.37 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$8.37 billion for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 15.17%. Analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco Inc. will post 4.4525194 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on GWO. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$75.00 to C$81.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. TD raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$73.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. National Bank Financial raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$65.00 to C$73.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$83.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Great-West Lifeco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$77.18.

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.