Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Price Target Raised to C$95.00 at Desjardins

Key Points

• Desjardins raised Great-West Lifeco’s price target to C$95 from C$93, implying 3.43% upside from the prior close. The stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average analyst target of C$93.27.
• Great-West Lifeco shares rose to C$91.85, near their 52-week high of C$93.69, while the company reported quarterly EPS of C$1.42 and revenue of C$8.35 billion.
• Insiders have sold 119,200 shares worth approximately C$9.82 million over the past three months, including substantial reductions in holdings by an insider and a director.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by investment analysts at Desjardins from C$93.00 to C$95.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,BayStreet.CA reports. Desjardins' price target points to a potential upside of 3.43% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on GWO. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$84.00 to C$107.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$95.00 to C$100.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$64.00 to C$77.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. TD raised their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$98.00 to C$106.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, National Bank Financial raised their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$93.00 to C$95.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Great-West Lifeco has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of C$93.27.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

GWO stock traded up C$1.42 during trading on Thursday, hitting C$91.85. The company had a trading volume of 353,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,620,427. The company has a fifty day moving average price of C$87.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$73.92. The company has a current ratio of 6.57, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59. The company has a market cap of C$82.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.67. Great-West Lifeco has a fifty-two week low of C$51.60 and a fifty-two week high of C$93.69.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported C$1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$8.35 billion during the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 15.17% and a net margin of 12.86%. Equities research analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Great-West Lifeco

In related news, insider Jean-Francois Poulin sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$89.55, for a total value of C$1,791,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 160 shares in the company, valued at C$14,328. The trade was a 99.21% decrease in their position. Also, Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$86.20, for a total value of C$3,448,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$757,180.80. This represents a 81.99% decrease in their position. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 119,200 shares of company stock worth $9,821,888. 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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