Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Stock Price Breaks Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO)’s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$84.72 and traded as high as C$92.96. Great-West Lifeco shares last traded at C$91.24, with a volume of 592,990 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. National Bank Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$93.00 to C$95.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$84.00 to C$107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$90.00 to C$92.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$95.00 to C$100.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$86.00 to C$87.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$93.27.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Down 0.5%

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is C$90.87 and its 200-day moving average price is C$84.72. The stock has a market cap of C$81.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 6.07, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.63.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported C$1.42 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$8.35 billion for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 15.48%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco Inc. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 29th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.89%.

About Great-West Lifeco

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. In 2020, Great-West announced it would acquire Personal Capital and MassMutual’s recordkeeping business. In Europe, Great-West offers life insurance, annuities, and reinsurance primarily in the U.K., Ireland, and Germany.