Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Shares Pass Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO)’s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$50.68 and traded as high as C$51.75. Great-West Lifeco shares last traded at C$51.71, with a volume of 3,255,534 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GWO shares. Royal Bank of Canada set a C$53.00 target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. TD Securities increased their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$53.00 to C$62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$58.00 to C$57.00 in a research note on Monday, April 21st. CIBC decreased their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$60.00 to C$57.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$48.00 to C$47.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Great-West Lifeco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$55.56.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Up 1.0%

The company has a market cap of C$48.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.83, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of C$51.88 and a 200 day moving average price of C$50.68.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.79%.

Insider Transactions at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, Senior Officer David Martin Harney sold 20,700 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$51.85, for a total value of C$1,073,263.95. Also, insider L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 75,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$53.44, for a total transaction of C$4,032,671.09. Insiders have sold 132,857 shares of company stock valued at $6,979,455 in the last three months. 70.70% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.