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

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) was upgraded by stock analysts at CIBC from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. The firm presently has a C$60.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of C$56.00. CIBC’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 17.16% from the company’s previous close.

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

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

GWO stock traded down C$1.18 during trading on Friday, reaching C$51.21. 486,136 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,595,915. Great-West Lifeco has a 1-year low of C$38.44 and a 1-year high of C$52.47. The firm has a market cap of C$47.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s fifty day moving average price is C$47.33 and its 200-day moving average price is C$46.01. The company has a quick ratio of 22.18, a current ratio of 37.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.61.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, Director Paul Mahon sold 146,826 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$49.88, for a total transaction of C$7,323,842.39. Also, Director Charles Donald Harvey Henaire sold 26,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$49.50, for a total value of C$1,306,800.00. In the last three months, insiders have sold 174,613 shares of company stock worth $8,697,880. Corporate insiders own 70.70% of the company’s stock.

About Great-West Lifeco

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.