Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as C$77.32 and last traded at C$77.14, with a volume of 12432 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$76.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GWO shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Desjardins lifted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$71.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Scotia lifted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$78.00 to C$83.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. TD lifted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$73.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$75.00 to C$81.00 in a 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 given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$77.18.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Up 0.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a current ratio of 6.57. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of C$68.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$65.57. The company has a market capitalization of C$70.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 3rd. This is a positive change from Great-West Lifeco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is 53.76%.

Insider Activity at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, Director Mei Dong sold 39,400 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately C$207,693.93. This trade represents a 93.54% decrease in their position. Also, insider L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 46,413 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$63.46, for a total value of C$2,945,368.98. 70.70% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.