Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Stock

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) had its target price increased by equities research analysts at Barclays from C$59.00 to C$70.00 in a research note issued on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. Barclays‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 4.07% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. National Bankshares boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$58.00 to C$59.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$60.00 to C$66.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. TD Securities upped their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$66.00 to C$70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. CIBC raised their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$67.00 to C$73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Great-West Lifeco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Two 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$64.00.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

TSE:GWO opened at C$67.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of C$61.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.61, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.72. Great-West Lifeco has a one year low of C$44.89 and a one year high of C$68.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of C$64.80 and a 200 day moving average price of C$58.09.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 94,532 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$64.51, for a total value of C$6,098,259.32. Following the sale, the director owned 4,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$317,131.16. The trade was a 95.06% decrease in their position. Insiders own 70.70% of the company’s stock.

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. 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.