Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Price Target Raised to C$56.00

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) had its target price raised by CIBC from C$55.00 to C$56.00 in a research report released on Thursday,BayStreet.CA reports.

GWO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$42.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$47.00 to C$51.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays upped their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$46.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$44.00 to C$50.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Great-West Lifeco has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$47.88.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of GWO stock opened at C$46.58 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is C$47.59 and its 200 day moving average price is C$45.69. Great-West Lifeco has a 1-year low of C$38.44 and a 1-year high of C$50.99. The firm has a market capitalization of C$43.42 billion, a PE ratio of 11.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. 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 (TSE:GWO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported C$1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.555 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.77%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Senior Officer David Martin Harney sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$47.55, for a total transaction of C$26,721.58. Also, Director Charles Donald Harvey Henaire sold 26,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$49.50, for a total value of C$1,306,800.00. Insiders have sold 174,613 shares of company stock worth $8,697,880 over the last three months. 70.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.