Desjardins Forecasts Higher Earnings for Great-West Lifeco

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Desjardins raised their FY2026 earnings estimates for Great-West Lifeco in a research report issued on Wednesday, August 6th. Desjardins analyst D. Young now expects that the company will earn $5.20 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $5.10. Desjardins currently has a "Hold" rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Great-West Lifeco's current full-year earnings is $4.45 per share.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$56.00 to C$57.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$56.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a C$53.00 price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, National Bankshares lowered their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$53.00 to C$52.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of C$56.67.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Up 0.5%

TSE:GWO opened at C$53.28 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of C$49.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.19, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The company's 50 day moving average price is C$51.60 and its 200-day moving average price is C$51.90. Great-West Lifeco has a 52 week low of C$40.16 and a 52 week high of C$57.61.

Insider Activity at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, Senior Officer Dervla Mary Tomlin sold 36,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$51.05, for a total transaction of C$1,873,520.32. Also, Senior Officer David Martin Harney sold 20,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$51.85, for a total transaction of C$1,073,263.95. 70.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. Great-West Lifeco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.79%.

Great-West Lifeco announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 5th that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Great-West Lifeco

Great-West Lifeco is one of the three big Canadian life insurance firms. With just under half of the firm's profit and revenue in Canada, Great-West also operates in the U.S. and Europe. In Canada, Great-West provides both individual and group insurance. In the United States, Great-West operates Putnam Investments and defined-contribution recordkeeping firm Empower Retirement.

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