Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Hits New 52-Week High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Shares reached a new 52-week high, trading as high as C$72.29 (last C$71.77); Wall Street consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of C$69.11 even as several firms have recently raised their targets.
• Dividend increase: the quarterly dividend was raised to C$0.67 (C$2.68 annualized), yielding about 3.7% with a payout ratio of ~57.3%.
• Solid fundamentals and insider activity: market cap C$65.6B, P/E ~17, ROE ~14%, very strong reported liquidity (current ratio 5.80, quick ratio 22.18), while insiders sold 46,413 shares on March 31 but still own 70.7% of the company.

Shares of Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as C$72.29 and last traded at C$71.77, with a volume of 113892 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$71.41.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on GWO. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$70.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Desjardins boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$68.00 to C$71.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. National Bank Financial set a C$65.00 target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$60.00 to C$64.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of C$69.11.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Up 1.3%

The company has a current ratio of 5.80, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.93. The company has a market capitalization of C$65.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.57. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is C$65.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$64.23.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported C$1.36 earnings per share for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 10.96% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The company had revenue of C$8.34 billion for the quarter. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Great-West Lifeco Inc. will post 4.4525194 EPS for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. This is an increase from Great-West Lifeco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Great-West Lifeco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.28%.

Insider Activity at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, insider L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 46,413 shares of the company's 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 value of C$2,945,368.98. 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. 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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