Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Price Target Raised to C$83.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) had its target price boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from C$70.00 to C$83.00 in a report released on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Scotia increased their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$71.00 to C$78.00 in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$68.00 to C$66.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$60.00 to C$64.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$68.00 to C$70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Great-West Lifeco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$71.30.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of TSE:GWO traded up C$0.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching C$73.55. 598,411 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,672,961. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.93, a current ratio of 5.80 and a quick ratio of 22.18. The firm has a market cap of C$66.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is C$66.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$64.44. Great-West Lifeco has a 1 year low of C$49.54 and a 1 year high of C$73.87.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported C$1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$8.34 billion for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 10.96% and a return on equity of 13.98%. Equities research analysts forecast that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 EPS for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. This is an increase from Great-West Lifeco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 3rd. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is 57.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 46,413 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$63.46, for a total transaction of C$2,945,368.98. Company insiders own 70.70% of the company’s stock.

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.