Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Insider Jean-Francois Poulin Sells 20,000 Shares

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) insider Jean-Francois Poulin sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$89.55, for a total value of C$1,791,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$14,328. The trade was a 99.21% decrease in their position.

Jean-Francois Poulin also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, May 21st, Jean-Francois Poulin sold 19,800 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of C$79.57, for a total transaction of C$1,575,486.00.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Down 0.9%

GWO traded down C$0.77 during trading on Friday, reaching C$88.93. 236,515 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,752,096. The company has a current ratio of 6.57, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59. Great-West Lifeco Inc. has a one year low of C$49.88 and a one year high of C$90.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of C$76.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$68.91. The stock has a market capitalization of C$79.86 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.69.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 15.17%. The firm had revenue of C$8.37 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Great-West Lifeco Inc. will post 4.4525194 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 2nd. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is 53.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GWO shares. TD lifted their price objective on 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$76.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$64.00 to C$77.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. National Bank Financial upped their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$65.00 to C$73.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$75.00 to C$81.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco currently has an average 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.