Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Shares Cross Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$50.61 and traded as high as C$52.04. Great-West Lifeco shares last traded at C$51.32, with a volume of 9,298,443 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GWO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. National Bankshares cut their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$53.00 to C$52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Royal Bank of Canada set a C$53.00 target price on Great-West Lifeco and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, TD Securities raised their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$53.00 to C$62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned 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 an average price target of C$55.56.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Down 1.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of C$47.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50-day moving average price of C$52.65 and a 200 day moving average price of C$50.61.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is currently 50.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 75,457 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$53.44, for a total value of C$4,032,671.09. Also, Senior Officer David Martin Harney sold 9,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$52.14, for a total value of C$484,931.76. In the last three months, insiders have sold 142,157 shares of company stock worth $7,464,387. Insiders own 70.70% of the company’s stock.

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.