Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Price Target Raised to C$71.00 at Desjardins

Key Points

• Desjardins raised its target price on Great‑West Lifeco from C$68.00 to C$71.00 and maintained a "hold" rating, while the analyst consensus average target is C$68.44 and the stock carries an overall "Moderate Buy" (1 Strong Buy, 5 Buy, 4 Hold).
• Shares climbed to C$70.73, trading near the 52‑week high of C$70.91; the company reported quarterly EPS of C$1.36 and revenue of C$8.34 billion with a return on equity of 13.98%.
• Insider L.P. Great‑West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 46,413 shares for about C$2.95 million at an average of C$63.46, and insiders collectively own 70.70% of the company.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by research analysts at Desjardins from C$68.00 to C$71.00 in a research report issued on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage presently has a "hold" rating on the stock. Desjardins' price objective would suggest a potential upside of 0.38% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on GWO. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$68.00 to C$66.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Great-West Lifeco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from C$67.00 to C$70.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$70.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$68.00 to C$70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of C$68.44.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of Great-West Lifeco stock traded up C$1.16 during trading on Friday, reaching C$70.73. The company had a trading volume of 295,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,760,540. The company has a market cap of C$64.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.57. The firm's fifty day moving average is C$64.25 and its 200-day moving average is C$63.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.93, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a current ratio of 5.80. Great-West Lifeco has a fifty-two week low of C$49.54 and a fifty-two week high of C$70.91.

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

Insider Transactions at Great-West Lifeco

In related news, insider L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 46,413 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.