Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$62.11.

GWO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Desjardins raised their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. CIBC increased their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$65.00 to C$67.00 in a report on Friday, November 7th. TD Securities raised their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$66.00 to C$70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$60.00 to C$66.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$58.00 to C$59.00 in a report on Thursday, November 6th.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

GWO opened at C$67.43 on Thursday. Great-West Lifeco has a fifty-two week low of C$44.89 and a fifty-two week high of C$68.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is C$62.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$56.68. The company has a market capitalization of C$61.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.69.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported C$1.33 EPS for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 16.06% and a return on equity of 14.81%. The company had revenue of C$8.21 billion during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is 55.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 94,532 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$64.51, for a total value of C$6,098,259.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$317,131.16. The trade was a 95.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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.