Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Price Target Raised to C$45.00

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) had its price target raised by Royal Bank of Canada from C$44.00 to C$45.00 in a report released on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. National Bankshares raised their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$42.00 to C$43.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$42.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. CIBC upped their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$44.00 to C$46.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$42.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, TD Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$44.00 in a research note on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of C$44.00.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

Shares of TSE:GWO opened at C$42.23 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is C$41.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$42.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.33, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a current ratio of 12.42. Great-West Lifeco has a one year low of C$37.06 and a one year high of C$45.18. The firm has a market cap of C$39.38 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.86.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported C$1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$0.99 by C$0.05. The company had revenue of C$20.21 billion for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 10.28% and a net margin of 7.95%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.137561 EPS for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.555 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.26%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, Senior Officer Dervla Mary Tomlin sold 5,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$42.33, for a total transaction of C$228,590.10. In other Great-West Lifeco news, Senior Officer Dervla Mary Tomlin sold 5,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$42.33, for a total value of C$228,590.10. Also, Senior Officer Bradley John Fedorchuk sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$42.44, for a total value of C$123,062.08. Insiders sold a total of 13,300 shares of company stock worth $566,402 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 70.57% 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.