Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Stock Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) shares passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$61.43 and traded as high as C$61.95. Great-West Lifeco shares last traded at C$61.73, with a volume of 4,760,566 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GWO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets lowered 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. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$68.00 to C$70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$70.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from C$67.00 to C$70.00 in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$67.22.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is C$64.28 and its 200-day moving average price is C$61.49. The company has a quick ratio of 22.18, a current ratio of 5.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.93. The stock has a market capitalization of C$56.65 billion, a PE ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.63.

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. This is an increase from Great-West Lifeco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is currently 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.