Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Share Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO - Get Free Report) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$50.85 and traded as high as C$51.97. Great-West Lifeco shares last traded at C$49.99, with a volume of 2,364,800 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on GWO. Barclays cut their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$48.00 to C$47.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a C$53.00 target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. National Bankshares decreased their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$53.00 to C$52.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. CIBC lowered their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$60.00 to C$57.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$58.00 to C$57.00 in a report on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of C$55.56.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average price is C$51.55 and its 200-day moving average price is C$50.85. The company has a market capitalization of C$46.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.88%. Great-West Lifeco's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.79%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Senior Officer David Martin Harney sold 20,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$51.85, for a total value of C$1,073,263.95. Also, Senior Officer Dervla Mary Tomlin sold 36,700 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$51.05, for a total value of C$1,873,520.32. 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.

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