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

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as C$82.00 and last traded at C$81.68, with a volume of 6085433 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$80.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotia increased their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$78.00 to C$83.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$76.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$83.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. National Bank Financial lifted 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$64.00 to C$77.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$77.18.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of C$73.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a current ratio of 6.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of C$73.14 and a 200-day moving average price of C$67.59.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company 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%. Research analysts predict that Great-West Lifeco Inc. will post 4.4525194 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 2nd. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is currently 53.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mei Dong sold 39,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 2,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$207,693.93. The trade was a 93.54% decrease in their position. Also, insider Jean-Francois Poulin sold 19,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$79.57, for a total value of C$1,575,486.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 160 shares in the company, valued at C$12,731.20. This represents a 99.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders have sold 105,613 shares of company stock valued at $7,528,257 in the last ninety days. 70.70% of the stock is 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.