Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as C$92.01 and last traded at C$91.80, with a volume of 714713 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$91.36.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$83.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. National Bank Financial increased their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$65.00 to C$73.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$75.00 to C$81.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$64.00 to C$77.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Great-West Lifeco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$77.18.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Up 0.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 22.18, a current ratio of 6.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average is C$80.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$70.83. The stock has a market cap of C$82.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.76%.

Insider Activity at Great-West Lifeco

In other Great-West Lifeco news, Director Mei Dong sold 39,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$76.33, for a total value of C$3,007,402.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$207,693.93. This trade represents a 93.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, 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 owned 8,784 shares in the company, valued at C$757,180.80. The trade was a 81.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders sold 119,200 shares of company stock worth $9,821,888 in the last 90 days. 70.70% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.