Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Board of Directors Announces Share Repurchase Program

Key Points

• Great-West Lifeco's Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan, although the company plans to repurchase $0.00 in shares, indicating a potential lack of perceived undervaluation.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, equating to an annualized dividend of $2.44 and a yield of 4.7%.
• Barclays upgraded Great-West Lifeco from a "strong sell" to a "hold" rating, contributing to an average stock rating of "Moderate Buy" among analysts.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO - Get Free Report) declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, August 5th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

Shares of GWO stock traded up C$0.28 on Friday, hitting C$53.28. 2,593,848 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,942,318. The firm's 50-day moving average price is C$51.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$51.83. The stock has a market capitalization of C$49.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.19, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. Great-West Lifeco has a twelve month low of C$40.16 and a twelve month high of C$57.61.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Great-West Lifeco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada set a C$53.00 target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. National Bankshares lowered their price objective 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 report on Thursday, May 8th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. CIBC lowered their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$60.00 to C$57.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Desjardins raised their target price 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of C$56.67.

Insider Activity

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