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

Key Points

• Great-West Lifeco's stock reached a new 52-week high, trading as high as C$59.07 before closing at C$58.73 with significant trading volume.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Great-West Lifeco, with prices ranging from C$55.00 to C$66.00 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, representing a 4.2% yield, and announced a share buyback plan indicating confidence in its stock value.

Shares of Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$59.07 and last traded at C$58.73, with a volume of 1511858 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$58.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on GWO shares. Desjardins boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$52.00 to C$55.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Scotiabank upped their target price 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. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$66.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$57.00 to C$58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$56.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of C$57.22.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

The stock's 50 day simple moving average is C$55.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$53.08. The company has a market capitalization of C$54.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.65.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 29th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. Great-West Lifeco's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.40%.

Great-West Lifeco declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 5th that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are 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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