Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$86.29 and last traded at C$85.94, with a volume of 1692394 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$85.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GWO shares. National Bank Financial lifted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$65.00 to C$73.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$75.00 to C$81.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$64.00 to C$77.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. Scotia increased their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$78.00 to C$83.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Desjardins boosted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$71.00 to C$80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$77.18.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of C$80.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.29, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59, a current ratio of 6.57 and a quick ratio of 22.18. The company has a fifty day moving average of C$76.60 and a 200 day moving average of C$68.91.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$1.37 earnings per share for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 15.17% and a net margin of 12.86%.The business had revenue of C$8.37 billion during the quarter. On average, equities analysts predict that Great-West Lifeco Inc. will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mei Dong sold 39,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$76.33, for a total value of C$3,007,402.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,721 shares in the company, valued at C$207,693.93. This trade represents a 93.54% decrease in their position. Also, insider Jean-Francois Poulin sold 19,800 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$79.57, for a total value of C$1,575,486.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 160 shares in the company, valued at C$12,731.20. This represents a 99.20% decrease in their position. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 145,613 shares of company stock valued at $10,976,257. 70.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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. 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.