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

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$56.20 and traded as high as C$67.31. Great-West Lifeco shares last traded at C$67.05, with a volume of 1,307,833 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GWO shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$60.00 to C$66.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. UBS Group raised shares of Great-West Lifeco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. National Bankshares increased their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$58.00 to C$59.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$53.00 to C$60.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Desjardins upped their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Great-West Lifeco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$62.11.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is C$61.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$56.20. The firm has a market capitalization of C$61.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.69.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported C$1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$8.21 billion for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 16.06% and a return on equity of 14.81%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Great-West Lifeco Inc. will post 4.4525194 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 3rd. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.34%.

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.