UBS Group Upgrades Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) to Strong-Buy

Key Points

• UBS Group has upgraded Great-West Lifeco to a "strong-buy" rating, indicating strong confidence in the company's future performance.
• Other analysts have raised their price targets for Great-West Lifeco, with a consensus average target of C$57.78 and multiple ratings ranging from hold to strong buy.
• The company has initiated a stock repurchase plan, which often suggests that the leadership believes the stock is undervalued.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at UBS Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$57.00 to C$58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Desjardins boosted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Securities boosted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$66.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$56.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$61.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of C$57.78.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

Shares of Great-West Lifeco stock opened at C$57.78 on Thursday. Great-West Lifeco has a one year low of C$44.89 and a one year high of C$59.36. The firm has a market capitalization of C$53.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of C$55.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$53.14.

Great-West Lifeco declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 5th that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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