CIBC Upgrades Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) to “Outperform”

CIBC upgraded shares of Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have C$60.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of C$56.00.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on GWO. Scotiabank raised Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Securities raised shares of Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from C$49.00 to C$53.00 in a research note on Friday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$46.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$42.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$51.00 to C$53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$52.22.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

Great-West Lifeco stock opened at C$51.71 on Friday. Great-West Lifeco has a fifty-two week low of C$38.44 and a fifty-two week high of C$52.47. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is C$47.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$46.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.61, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a current ratio of 37.46. The stock has a market cap of C$48.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported C$1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$1.08 by C$0.06. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 13.21% and a net margin of 11.32%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.555 per share. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is currently 55.78%.

Insider Activity at Great-West Lifeco

In other Great-West Lifeco news, Director Paul Mahon sold 146,826 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$49.88, for a total transaction of C$7,323,842.39. Also, Senior Officer Colleen Nancy Bailey Moffitt sold 825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$49.11, for a total value of C$40,515.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 66 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$3,241.26. This trade represents a 92.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders have sold 174,613 shares of company stock valued at $8,697,880 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 70.70% of the company’s stock.

About Great-West Lifeco

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.