Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Sets New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Great-West Lifeco's share price reached a new 52-week high of C$23.66, closing recently at C$56.77 with a trading volume of 255,563 shares.
• A number of analysts have upgraded their price targets for Great-West Lifeco, with Scotiabank setting the highest target at C$61.00 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61, yielding 4.3% annually, and is believed to be repurchasing stock under the assumption that its shares are undervalued.

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as C$23.66 and last traded at C$56.77, with a volume of 255563 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$56.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GWO shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$56.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Desjardins increased their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$52.00 to C$55.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$56.00 to C$57.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$61.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Great-West Lifeco presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of C$56.67.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Up 0.4%

The stock has a market cap of C$52.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.68. The firm's fifty day moving average price is C$54.15 and its 200-day moving average price is C$52.87.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 29th were issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Great-West Lifeco's payout ratio is 58.40%.

Great-West Lifeco announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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