Analysts Set Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Price Target at C$93.27

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$93.27.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD raised their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$98.00 to C$106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Scotia upped their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$78.00 to C$83.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. National Bank Financial increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$93.00 to C$95.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$95.00 to C$97.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$95.00 to C$100.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of TSE:GWO opened at C$91.20 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of C$81.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.84, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 22.18, a current ratio of 6.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.63. Great-West Lifeco has a 12-month low of C$52.51 and a 12-month high of C$94.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is C$89.35 and its 200 day moving average is C$75.56.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported C$1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 15.48%. The firm had revenue of C$8.35 billion for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 2nd. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$757,180.80. This trade represents a 81.99% decrease in their position. Also, insider Jean-Francois Poulin sold 20,000 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider owned 160 shares in the company, valued at C$14,328. The trade was a 99.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. In the last three months, insiders sold 79,800 shares of company stock worth $6,814,486. 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.