Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Price Target Raised to C$57.00 at Barclays

Key Points

• Analysts at Barclays raised the price target for Great-West Lifeco from C$56.00 to C$57.00, rating the stock as "equal weight" with a potential upside of 5.61%.
• The company initiated a stock buyback program on August 5th, allowing it to repurchase shares, which suggests management believes the stock is undervalued.
• Great-West Lifeco has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of C$56.67, and insider ownership stands at 70.70%.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO - Free Report) had its target price hoisted by Barclays from C$56.00 to C$57.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

GWO has been the subject of a number of other reports. CIBC lowered their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$60.00 to C$57.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$58.00 to C$57.00 in a report on Monday, April 21st. National Bankshares reduced 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 note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a C$53.00 target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Great-West Lifeco has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of C$56.67.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

Shares of TSE:GWO traded up C$0.44 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching C$53.44. 264,172 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,926,826. The firm has a market capitalization of C$49.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.23, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. Great-West Lifeco has a twelve month low of C$40.16 and a twelve month high of C$57.61. The business's fifty day moving average price is C$51.58 and its 200-day moving average price is C$51.78.

Great-West Lifeco declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program 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. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 29th will be given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Great-West Lifeco's payout ratio is presently 50.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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