Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$55.56.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada set a C$53.00 price target on Great-West Lifeco and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$58.00 to C$57.00 in a research report on Monday, April 21st. CIBC lowered their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$60.00 to C$57.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Great-West Lifeco from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Up 0.3%

Great-West Lifeco stock traded up C$0.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting C$51.29. 1,518,256 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,942,066. The stock has a market capitalization of C$47.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. Great-West Lifeco has a 52-week low of C$38.44 and a 52-week high of C$57.61. The business's 50-day moving average price is C$52.86 and its 200-day moving average price is C$50.29.

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.76%. This is an increase from Great-West Lifeco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Great-West Lifeco's dividend payout ratio is 50.79%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Senior Officer Linda Kerrigan sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$51.64, for a total transaction of C$438,927.25. Also, insider L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 75,457 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$53.44, for a total transaction of C$4,032,671.09. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 124,557 shares of company stock valued at $6,611,123. Corporate insiders own 70.70% of the company's stock.

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.