Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Issues Positive Forecast for Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Stock Price

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) had its target price lifted by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from C$81.00 to C$95.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,BayStreet.CA reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Desjardins upped their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$71.00 to C$80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$76.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$83.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, National Bank Financial boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$65.00 to C$73.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One equities 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$80.73.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Up 1.2%

TSE:GWO opened at C$92.34 on Wednesday. Great-West Lifeco has a twelve month low of C$51.40 and a twelve month high of C$92.97. The firm has a market capitalization of C$82.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.67. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is C$84.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$72.21.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$1.37 earnings per share for the quarter. The business 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given 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 is presently 53.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jean-Francois Poulin sold 20,000 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$89.55, for a total transaction of C$1,791,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$14,328. This trade represents a 99.21% decrease in their position. Also, Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 40,000 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at C$757,180.80. This trade represents a 81.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 119,200 shares of company stock valued at $9,821,888. 70.70% of the stock is owned by 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.