Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after TD Securities raised their price target on the stock from C$59.00 to C$66.00. The company traded as high as C$58.45 and last traded at C$58.27, with a volume of 1000003 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$57.50.

GWO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Desjardins boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$52.00 to C$55.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$57.00 to C$58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$57.22.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of C$54.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$53.03. The firm has a market cap of C$53.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.65.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 29th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.40%.

Great-West Lifeco declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Great-West Lifeco

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.