Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Given New C$59.00 Price Target at National Bankshares

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) had its price target hoisted by National Bankshares from C$58.00 to C$59.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,BayStreet.CA reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Great-West Lifeco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$58.00 to C$59.00 in a research report on Thursday. CIBC increased their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$57.00 to C$65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Great-West Lifeco has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$60.00.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

Shares of TSE GWO opened at C$60.88 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of C$56.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$53.70. The company has a market cap of C$56.30 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.63. Great-West Lifeco has a 12 month low of C$44.89 and a 12 month high of C$61.39.

Great-West Lifeco declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 5th that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 29th were issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.40%.

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.