Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Upgraded by CIBC to Outperform Rating

CIBC upgraded shares of Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report report published on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has C$60.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of C$56.00.

Several other research analysts have also commented on GWO. TD Securities raised Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from C$49.00 to C$53.00 in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$42.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$51.00 to C$53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$52.22.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Down 1.3 %

GWO opened at C$51.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of C$48.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. Great-West Lifeco has a one year low of C$38.44 and a one year high of C$52.47. The company has a fifty day moving average price of C$47.33 and a 200-day moving average price of C$46.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.61, a current ratio of 37.46 and a quick ratio of 22.18.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported C$1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$1.08 by C$0.06. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 13.21% and a net margin of 11.32%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.555 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.29%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.78%.

Insider Activity at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, Director Paul Mahon sold 146,826 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$49.88, for a total transaction of C$7,323,842.39. Also, Senior Officer Colleen Nancy Bailey Moffitt sold 825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$49.11, for a total value of C$40,515.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 66 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$3,241.26. This represents a 92.59 % decrease in their position. Insiders sold 174,613 shares of company stock worth $8,697,880 in the last ninety days. 70.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Great-West Lifeco Company Profile

Great-West Lifeco Inc engages in the life and health insurance, retirement and investment services, asset management, and reinsurance businesses in Canada, the United States, and Europe. The company offers life, accidental death and dismemberment, disability, critical illness, health and dental protection, and creditor insurance products; and retirement and wealth savings, income and annuity products, and other specialty products to individuals, families, businesses, and organizations.