Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$47.88.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GWO shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$47.00 to C$51.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$46.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price 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. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$44.00 to C$50.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$56.00 in a report on Thursday.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

Great-West Lifeco stock opened at C$46.99 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 37.46, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of C$47.47 and a 200 day moving average price of C$45.83. Great-West Lifeco has a 12-month low of C$38.44 and a 12-month high of C$50.99. The stock has a market cap of C$43.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported C$1.14 earnings per share (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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.555 per share. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.72%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is currently 55.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Paul Mahon sold 146,826 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$49.88, for a total value of C$7,323,842.39. Also, Senior Officer David Martin Harney sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$47.55, for a total transaction of C$26,721.58. Insiders have sold a total of 174,613 shares of company stock worth $8,697,880 in the last ninety days. 70.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.