Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Given a C$65.00 Price Target by National Bank Financial Analysts

National Bank Financial set a C$65.00 target price on Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) in a report released on Friday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from C$67.00 to C$70.00 in a research note on Friday, February 13th. TD Securities lifted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Barclays boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$70.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$60.00 to C$64.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$69.11.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

TSE GWO opened at C$71.32 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of C$65.47 and a 200-day moving average of C$64.04. 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 has a market cap of C$64.64 billion, a PE ratio of 16.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.57. Great-West Lifeco has a 52-week low of C$49.54 and a 52-week high of C$71.84.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported C$1.36 EPS for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 10.96% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The business had revenue of C$8.34 billion during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 EPS for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 3rd. This is a boost from Great-West Lifeco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.28%.

Insider Activity at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, insider L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 46,413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$63.46, for a total transaction of C$2,945,368.98. 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.