Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$47.75.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on GWO shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$42.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$44.00 to C$50.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$47.00 to C$51.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$51.00 to C$55.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

Shares of GWO opened at C$45.99 on Thursday. Great-West Lifeco has a 52-week low of C$38.44 and a 52-week high of C$50.99. The firm has a market capitalization of C$42.87 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of C$48.08 and a 200 day moving average price of C$45.17. The company has a quick ratio of 22.18, a current ratio of 37.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.61.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.555 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.83%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Senior Officer Colleen Nancy Bailey Moffitt sold 825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$49.11, for a total value of C$40,515.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 66 shares in the company, valued at C$3,241.26. This represents a 92.59 % decrease in their position. Also, Director Paul Mahon sold 146,826 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$49.88, for a total value of C$7,323,842.39. In the last three months, insiders have sold 174,613 shares of company stock worth $8,697,880. Corporate insiders own 70.70% of the company’s stock.

About Great-West Lifeco

Great-West Lifeco Inc engages in the life and health insurance, retirement and investment services, asset management, and reinsurance businesses in Canada, the United States, and Europe. The company offers life, accidental death and dismemberment, disability, critical illness, health and dental protection, and creditor insurance products; and retirement and wealth savings, income and annuity products, and other specialty products to individuals, families, businesses, and organizations.