Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Shares Cross Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO)’s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$52.19 and traded as high as C$54.69. Great-West Lifeco shares last traded at C$54.49, with a volume of 915,809 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GWO has been the subject of a number of research reports. CIBC decreased their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$60.00 to C$57.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$56.00 to C$57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. National Bankshares reduced their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$53.00 to C$52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$56.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$56.67.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of C$50.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s fifty day moving average is C$51.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$52.19.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is currently 50.79%.

Great-West Lifeco declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 5th that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Great-West Lifeco news, Senior Officer David Martin Harney sold 20,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$51.85, for a total value of C$1,073,263.95. 70.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.