Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Issues Earnings Results

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported C$1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, FiscalAI reports. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 15.17%. The company had revenue of C$8.35 billion for the quarter.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of GWO stock opened at C$90.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of C$81.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.45, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.67. Great-West Lifeco has a 1-year low of C$51.60 and a 1-year high of C$93.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59, a current ratio of 6.57 and a quick ratio of 22.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is C$87.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$73.92.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 2nd. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.76%.

Insider Activity at Great-West Lifeco

In related news, Director Mei Dong sold 39,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$76.33, for a total transaction of C$3,007,402.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$207,693.93. This represents a 93.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Jean-Francois Poulin sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$89.55, for a total transaction of C$1,791,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 160 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$14,328. This represents a 99.21% decrease in their position. Over the last three months, insiders sold 119,200 shares of company stock worth $9,821,888. 70.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GWO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$81.00 to C$95.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. National Bank Financial raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$93.00 to C$95.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$83.00 to C$95.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$86.00 to C$87.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$64.00 to C$77.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$88.55.

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.