Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$77.18.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GWO shares. TD raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$73.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. 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. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$75.00 to C$81.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Scotia raised their price objective on 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$64.00 to C$77.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th.

Insider Activity at Great-West Lifeco

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the director directly 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. Also, Director Mei Dong sold 39,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$76.33, for a total transaction of C$3,007,402.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$207,693.93. The trade was a 93.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders sold 119,200 shares of company stock worth $9,821,888 over the last three months. 70.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

GWO stock opened at C$91.94 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of C$82.57 billion, a PE ratio of 19.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.67. Great-West Lifeco has a 12 month low of C$51.40 and a 12 month high of C$92.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average is C$82.98 and its 200 day moving average is C$71.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59, a current ratio of 6.57 and a quick ratio of 22.18.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last released 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 during the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 15.17%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 EPS for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 currently 53.76%.

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.