Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Price Target Raised to C$98.00

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) had its price objective hoisted by TD from C$80.00 to C$98.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on GWO. National Bank Financial upped their target price on 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. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$84.00 to C$107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$83.00 to C$95.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$76.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Desjardins raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$71.00 to C$80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$86.36.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

TSE GWO opened at C$91.68 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is C$86.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$73.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59, a current ratio of 6.57 and a quick ratio of 22.18. Great-West Lifeco has a 1 year low of C$51.60 and a 1 year high of C$93.69. The stock has a market capitalization of C$82.33 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is 53.76%.

Insider Activity at Great-West Lifeco

In other Great-West Lifeco news, Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$86.20, for a total transaction of C$3,448,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,784 shares in the company, valued at C$757,180.80. This trade represents a 81.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director Mei Dong sold 39,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$76.33, for a total transaction of C$3,007,402.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$207,693.93. This represents a 93.54% decrease in their position. In the last three months, insiders have sold 119,200 shares of company stock valued at $9,821,888. Corporate insiders own 70.70% of the company’s stock.

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.