Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Stock Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$60.54 and traded as high as C$64.28. Great-West Lifeco shares last traded at C$63.84, with a volume of 1,959,800 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$68.00 to C$66.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$70.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. National Bank Financial lifted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$58.00 to C$59.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. TD Securities increased their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$60.00 to C$64.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Great-West Lifeco has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$67.22.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

The company has a market cap of C$57.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.99, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average is C$65.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$60.54.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 94,532 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 4,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$317,131.16. This represents a 95.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 70.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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. 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.