Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Given New C$53.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) had its price target upped by Royal Bank of Canada from C$51.00 to C$53.00 in a report released on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on GWO. Scotiabank upgraded Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays upped their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$46.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$56.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$42.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, TD Securities raised shares of Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from C$49.00 to C$53.00 in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$52.22.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Down 1.3 %

GWO opened at C$51.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.61, a current ratio of 37.46 and a quick ratio of 22.18. Great-West Lifeco has a fifty-two week low of C$38.44 and a fifty-two week high of C$52.47. The company’s 50 day moving average price is C$47.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$46.01. The firm has a market capitalization 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported C$1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$1.08 by C$0.06. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.21%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Great-West Lifeco news, Director Paul Mahon sold 146,826 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$49.88, for a total value of C$7,323,842.39. Also, Director Charles Donald Harvey Henaire sold 26,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$49.50, for a total value of C$1,306,800.00. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 174,613 shares of company stock worth $8,697,880. 70.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.