Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Director Sells C$3,448,000.00 in Stock

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 40,000 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$86.20, for a total value of C$3,448,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 8,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$757,180.80. This represents a 81.99% decrease in their position.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

TSE:GWO opened at C$88.18 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of C$77.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$69.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59, a current ratio of 6.57 and a quick ratio of 22.18. The firm has a market cap of C$79.19 billion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.69. Great-West Lifeco Inc. has a 1-year low of C$49.88 and a 1-year high of C$90.36.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$1.37 earnings per share for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 15.17% and a net margin of 12.86%.The company had revenue of C$8.37 billion for the quarter. On average, equities analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco Inc. will post 4.4525194 EPS for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GWO. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$76.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$64.00 to C$77.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. Desjardins raised their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$71.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. National Bank Financial boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$65.00 to C$73.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, TD boosted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$73.00 to C$80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$77.18.

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.