Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Price Target Raised to C$107.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) had its target price hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from C$84.00 to C$107.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on GWO. TD upped their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$73.00 to C$80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$64.00 to C$77.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$76.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$83.00 to C$95.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$81.00 to C$95.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$84.55.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

Shares of TSE GWO opened at C$92.34 on Tuesday. Great-West Lifeco has a twelve month low of C$51.60 and a twelve month high of C$93.69. The firm has a market cap of C$82.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.86, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of C$85.40 and a 200 day moving average of C$72.91. The company has a quick ratio of 22.18, a current ratio of 6.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$1.37 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$8.37 billion for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 15.17% and a net margin of 12.86%. As a group, research analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is presently 53.76%.

Insider Activity at Great-West Lifeco

In related news, Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$86.20, for a total transaction of C$3,448,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$757,180.80. This represents a 81.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Jean-Francois Poulin sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$89.55, for a total value of C$1,791,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 160 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$14,328. This represents a 99.21% decrease in their position. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 119,200 shares of company stock worth $9,821,888. 70.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.