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

Shares of Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$43.78.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GWO. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$47.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$46.00 to C$42.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. TD Securities increased their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$43.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays set a C$43.00 target price on Great-West Lifeco and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

Shares of TSE GWO opened at C$45.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of C$42.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.41, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 22.18, a current ratio of 37.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is C$42.13 and its 200-day moving average price is C$41.75. Great-West Lifeco has a twelve month low of C$37.06 and a twelve month high of C$45.44.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported C$1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$1.05 by C$0.06. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 13.21% and a net margin of 11.32%. The business had revenue of C$8.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$9.83 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4885344 EPS for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.555 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.89%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles Donald Harvey Henaire sold 25,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.72, for a total value of C$1,135,888.00. Company insiders own 70.65% 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.