Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as C$82.43 and last traded at C$81.92, with a volume of 1579154 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$81.33.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GWO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Desjardins lifted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$71.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$83.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$76.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$75.00 to C$81.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, TD lifted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$73.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$77.18.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Up 0.6%

The stock has a market capitalization of C$74.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.93, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.69. 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’s 50-day moving average is C$74.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$68.25.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$1.37 earnings per share for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 15.17%. The firm had revenue of C$8.37 billion during the quarter. On average, analysts anticipate that Great-West Lifeco Inc. will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.67 dividend. 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 3.2%. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is 53.76%.

Insider Activity at Great-West Lifeco

In related news, Director Mei Dong sold 39,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$76.33, for a total value of C$3,007,402.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$207,693.93. The trade was a 93.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Jean-Francois Poulin sold 19,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$79.57, for a total transaction of C$1,575,486.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$12,731.20. This trade represents a 99.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders sold a total of 105,613 shares of company stock valued at $7,528,257 over the last ninety days. 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.