Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$90.52 and last traded at C$90.37, with a volume of 1163079 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$88.72.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$83.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. National Bank Financial raised their price objective on shares of 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. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$76.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Scotia boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$78.00 to C$83.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven 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 a consensus target price of C$77.18.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Up 1.9%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of C$79.78 and a 200 day moving average of C$70.31. The company has a market cap of C$81.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 6.57, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59.

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

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is currently 53.76%.

Insider Activity at Great-West Lifeco

In other Great-West Lifeco news, Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$86.20, for a total value of C$3,448,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$757,180.80. This trade represents a 81.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director Mei Dong sold 39,400 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$76.33, for a total transaction of C$3,007,402.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$207,693.93. This trade represents a 93.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders have sold 119,200 shares of company stock worth $9,821,888 in the last quarter. Company 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.