Analysts Set Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Target Price at C$77.18

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$77.18.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GWO shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$76.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$75.00 to C$81.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Desjardins upped their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$71.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$68.00 to C$70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$83.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st.

Insider Activity at Great-West Lifeco

In related news, insider L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 46,413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$63.46, for a total transaction of C$2,945,368.98. Also, insider Jean-Francois Poulin sold 19,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$79.57, for a total value of C$1,575,486.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$12,731.20. The trade was a 99.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Over the last three months, insiders sold 105,613 shares of company stock valued at $7,528,257. Insiders own 70.70% of the company’s stock.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

TSE GWO opened at C$80.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of C$72.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 22.18, a current ratio of 6.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59. The business has a 50-day moving average price of C$71.49 and a 200-day moving average price of C$66.95. Great-West Lifeco has a twelve month low of C$49.78 and a twelve month high of C$80.82.

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

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.76%.

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.