Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Reaches New 12-Month High at $20.76

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as C$20.76 and last traded at C$41.64, with a volume of 158841 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$41.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GWO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$46.00 to C$42.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$44.00 to C$45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. TD Securities cut their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$44.00 to C$43.00 in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$44.00 to C$45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, National Bankshares raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$42.00 to C$43.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Great-West Lifeco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$43.44.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is C$40.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$41.83. The company has a current ratio of 37.37, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.96. The stock has a market capitalization of C$38.71 billion, a PE ratio of 11.82, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.87.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported C$1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.02 by C$0.07. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 11.74% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business had revenue of C$7.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$10.58 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Great-West Lifeco Inc. will post 4.2812813 earnings per share for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a dividend of $0.555 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.35%. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is currently 63.25%.

Insider Activity at Great-West Lifeco

In other Great-West Lifeco news, Director Olivier Desmarais sold 1,029 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$40.88, for a total transaction of C$42,065.52. 70.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Great-West Lifeco Company Profile

Great-West Lifeco Inc engages in the life and health insurance, retirement and investment services, asset management, and reinsurance businesses in Canada, the United States, and Europe. The company offers life, accidental death and dismemberment, disability, critical illness, health and dental protection, and creditor insurance products; and retirement and wealth savings, income and annuity products, and other specialty products to individuals, families, businesses, and organizations.