Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) shares reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as C$22.57 and last traded at C$52.99, with a volume of 440010 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$53.12.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GWO. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$52.00 to C$54.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Securities upgraded Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from C$49.00 to C$53.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$46.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$51.00 to C$53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$52.22.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of C$49.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of C$50.12 and a 200 day moving average price of C$48.20.

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is an increase from Great-West Lifeco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.60%. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is currently 50.79%.

Insider Transactions at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, Director Charles Donald Harvey Henaire sold 26,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$53.00, for a total value of C$1,383,300.00. Also, Senior Officer David Martin Harney sold 562 shares of the company’s 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. Insiders have sold 69,362 shares of company stock valued at $3,634,696 over the last ninety days. 70.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Great-West Lifeco Company Profile

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.