Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eight research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$47.88.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GWO. CIBC upped their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$56.00 in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$42.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$44.00 to C$50.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$46.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$47.00 to C$51.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

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

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported C$1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Senior Officer David Martin Harney sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$47.55, for a total value of C$26,721.58. Also, Senior Officer Colleen Nancy Bailey Moffitt sold 825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$49.11, for a total value of C$40,515.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 66 shares in the company, valued at C$3,241.26. The trade was a 92.59 % decrease in their position. Insiders sold a total of 174,613 shares of company stock worth $8,697,880 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 70.70% of the company’s stock.

Great-West Lifeco Company Profile

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.