Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Stock Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Great-West Lifeco's stock price has surpassed its 200-day moving average of C$52.66, trading as high as C$54.79 recently.
• Several analysts have raised their target prices for Great-West Lifeco, with Barclays setting a new target of C$57.00 and Scotiabank raising theirs to C$61.00.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, which represents a yield of 4.5%, with the ex-dividend date set for August 29th.

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO - Get Free Report)'s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$52.66 and traded as high as C$54.79. Great-West Lifeco shares last traded at C$54.66, with a volume of 551,907 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GWO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped 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 report on Wednesday, August 6th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Desjardins upped their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$52.00 to C$55.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$56.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of C$56.67.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of C$53.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$52.66. The firm has a market capitalization of C$50.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.68.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Great-West Lifeco's dividend payout ratio is 58.40%.

Great-West Lifeco declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 5th that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are 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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