Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) reached a new 52-week high on Monday after Desjardins raised their price target on the stock from C$68.00 to C$71.00. Desjardins currently has a hold rating on the stock. Great-West Lifeco traded as high as C$70.81 and last traded at C$70.70, with a volume of 144945 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$70.53.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$70.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$68.00 to C$70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from C$67.00 to C$70.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$67.00 to C$73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$68.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 46,413 shares of the company’s 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 value of C$2,945,368.98. 70.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Up 0.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.93, a current ratio of 5.80 and a quick ratio of 22.18. The stock has a market capitalization of C$64.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.60, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is C$64.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$63.65.

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

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. This is a positive change from Great-West Lifeco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 3rd. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.28%.

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.