Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Stock Rating Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) was upgraded by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a C$70.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of C$67.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 13.31% from the company’s previous close.

GWO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their price objective 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, January 8th. National Bank Financial upped their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$58.00 to C$59.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$68.00 to C$70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. TD Securities increased their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$60.00 to C$64.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$67.22.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of Great-West Lifeco stock opened at C$61.78 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of C$56.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.53. Great-West Lifeco has a twelve month low of C$49.54 and a twelve month high of C$68.56. The company’s fifty day moving average is C$65.42 and its 200 day moving average is C$60.21.

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

Insider Transactions at Great-West Lifeco

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

More Great-West Lifeco News

Here are the key news stories impacting Great-West Lifeco this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies upgraded GWO from “hold” to “buy” and raised its price target to C$70 (from C$67), signaling stronger analyst conviction and a meaningful upside case for the stock. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Empower (GWL’s U.S. retirement/wealth business) reported record earnings of $1.1 billion, highlighting accelerating workplace and wealth results — a direct earnings and cash-flow tailwind for Great‑West Lifeco. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Great‑West declared preferred-share dividends for two series (5YR RATE PFD‑N: CAD 0.2556; PFD 1st Ser I: CAD 0.2812). Routine preferred dividends support income-oriented investors and signal steady capital allocation for those securities. Read More. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target to C$64 (from C$60) while keeping a “sector perform” stance — a modestly bullish tweak that reduces downside risk in some analysts’ models. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Consensus analyst coverage sits around a “Moderate Buy,” reflecting broadly constructive but not unanimous analyst views — useful context for sentiment but not a catalyst by itself. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets trimmed its price target to C$66 from C$68 and kept a “market perform” rating, a small negative signal that slightly lowers one analyst’s upside estimate. Read More.

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.