Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$68.56 and last traded at C$68.54, with a volume of 188599 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$67.82.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$68.00 to C$66.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$67.00 to C$73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$68.00 to C$70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$60.00 to C$64.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, TD Securities raised their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$67.22.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of C$63.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$63.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.93, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a current ratio of 5.80. The company has a market cap of C$62.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.57.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported C$1.36 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$8.34 billion during the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 10.96%. On average, equities analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco Inc. will post 4.4525194 EPS for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. This is a positive change from Great-West Lifeco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is 57.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 46,413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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. 70.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.