Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Great-West Lifeco's stock reached a new 52-week high of C$58.45 after TD Securities raised its price target from C$59.00 to C$66.00.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, contributing to an annualized dividend yield of 4.2%.
• Great-West Lifeco initiated a stock repurchase program, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after TD Securities raised their price target on the stock from C$59.00 to C$66.00. The company traded as high as C$58.45 and last traded at C$58.27, with a volume of 1000003 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$57.50.

GWO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$57.00 to C$58.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Desjardins upped their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$52.00 to C$55.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$56.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Great-West Lifeco presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of C$57.22.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of C$54.50 and a 200-day moving average of C$52.97. The stock has a market cap of C$53.89 billion, a PE ratio of 14.60, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.65.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 29th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Great-West Lifeco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.40%.

Great-West Lifeco announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 5th that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Great-West Lifeco Company Profile

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.

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