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

Key Points

• Great-West Lifeco shares broke above their 200-day moving average, reaching C$93.60 and closing at C$92.94, compared with the long-term average of C$80.63.
• Analysts have generally turned more bullish, with multiple firms raising price targets. MarketBeat reports a “Moderate Buy” consensus, based on one Strong Buy, seven Buy, and four Hold ratings, with an average target of C$93.27.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of C$1.42 per share on C$8.35 billion in revenue and declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.67, equivalent to an annualized C$2.68 payout and a 2.9% yield.

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO - Get Free Report)'s stock price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$80.63 and traded as high as C$93.60. Great-West Lifeco shares last traded at C$92.94, with a volume of 777,120 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GWO shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$84.00 to C$107.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$86.00 to C$87.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$95.00 to C$100.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Desjardins boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$93.00 to C$95.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$90.00 to C$92.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of C$93.27.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Up 0.4%

The company has a market capitalization of C$83.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of C$91.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$80.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.63, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a current ratio of 6.07.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported C$1.42 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$8.35 billion during the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 15.48% and a net margin of 12.49%. Sell-side analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco Inc. will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 29th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Great-West Lifeco's dividend payout ratio is 52.89%.

Insider Transactions at Great-West Lifeco

In other Great-West Lifeco news, insider Jean-Francois Poulin sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$89.55, for a total value of C$1,791,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 160 shares in the company, valued at C$14,328. This trade represents a 99.21% decrease in their position. 70.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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. In 2020, Great-West announced it would acquire Personal Capital and MassMutual's recordkeeping business. In Europe, Great-West offers life insurance, annuities, and reinsurance primarily in the U.K., Ireland, and Germany.

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