Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Stock Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - What's Next?

Key Points

• Great-West Lifeco's shares have recently surpassed their 200-day moving average, trading at C$54.63 with significant volume, indicating potential upward momentum.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Great-West Lifeco, with a consensus price target of C$56.67 and a rating of "Moderate Buy," reflecting a bullish outlook.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, representing a 4.5% dividend yield, with plans for a share buyback, signaling confidence in its valuation.

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$52.62 and traded as high as C$54.83. Great-West Lifeco shares last traded at C$54.63, with a volume of 1,570,901 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on GWO. Barclays increased their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$56.00 to C$57.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Desjardins increased their price target on shares of 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 lifted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$61.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of C$56.67.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

The company's 50-day moving average price is C$53.41 and its 200-day moving average price is C$52.65. The company has a market cap of C$49.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.68.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Great-West Lifeco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.40%.

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