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

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO)’s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$61.78 and traded as high as C$65.00. Great-West Lifeco shares last traded at C$64.18, with a volume of 1,182,269 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GWO shares. TD Securities increased their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$68.00 to C$66.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$68.00 to C$70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$60.00 to C$64.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from C$67.00 to C$70.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$67.22.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is C$63.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$61.78. The stock has a market cap of C$58.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.07, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 5.80, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.93.

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $0.67 dividend. This is an increase from Great-West Lifeco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 3rd. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is presently 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.