Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$43.78.

Several equities analysts have commented on GWO shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$47.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$46.00 to C$42.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$43.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays set a C$43.00 price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th.

Insider Transactions at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, Director Charles Donald Harvey Henaire sold 25,400 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.72, for a total transaction of C$1,135,888.00. Corporate insiders own 70.70% of the company’s stock.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

TSE:GWO opened at C$46.25 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of C$43.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.62, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of C$43.79 and a 200 day moving average price of C$42.09. Great-West Lifeco has a fifty-two week low of C$37.06 and a fifty-two week high of C$46.55.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported C$1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.05 by C$0.06. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.21%. The firm had revenue of C$8.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$9.83 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 EPS for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.555 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.80%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.78%.

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.