Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" on Great‑West Lifeco from 10 brokerages (5 buys, 4 holds, 1 strong buy) with an average 12‑month price target of C$69.11 while the stock trades near C$72.45 (12‑month high C$72.55).
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to C$0.67 (C$2.68 annualized), implying a yield of about 3.7% and a payout ratio of roughly 57%.
• Recent fundamentals show quarterly EPS of C$1.36, revenue of C$8.34 billion, a P/E of 17.01 and market cap of C$65.66 billion; insiders sold ~46,413 shares recently but still collectively own about 70.7% of the stock.

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$69.11.

GWO has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Great-West Lifeco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from C$67.00 to C$70.00 in a research note on Friday, February 13th. National Bank Financial set a C$65.00 price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$67.00 to C$73.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$70.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Desjardins lifted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$68.00 to C$71.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

Shares of TSE GWO opened at C$72.45 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 5.80, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.93. Great-West Lifeco has a 12 month low of C$49.54 and a 12 month high of C$72.55. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of C$65.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$64.32. The stock has a market cap of C$65.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.01, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.57.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported C$1.36 EPS for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 10.96% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The business had revenue of C$8.34 billion during the quarter. As a group, analysts predict that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is a positive change from Great-West Lifeco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Great-West Lifeco's payout ratio is presently 57.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, insider L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 46,413 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$63.46, for a total transaction of C$2,945,368.98. 70.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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. In 2020, Great-West announced it would acquire Personal Capital and MassMutual's recordkeeping business. In Europe, Great-West offers life insurance, annuities, and reinsurance primarily in the U.K., Ireland, and Germany.

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