Brokerages Set Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Price Target at C$47.75

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$47.75.

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

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

Great-West Lifeco stock opened at C$46.43 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of C$43.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.61, a current ratio of 37.46 and a quick ratio of 22.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of C$48.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$45.12. Great-West Lifeco has a 1-year low of C$38.44 and a 1-year high of C$50.99.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued 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 4.78%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Great-West Lifeco news, Director Charles Donald Harvey Henaire sold 26,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$49.50, for a total transaction of C$1,306,800.00. Also, Senior Officer Colleen Nancy Bailey Moffitt sold 825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$49.11, for a total transaction of C$40,515.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 66 shares in the company, valued at C$3,241.26. This trade represents a 92.59 % decrease in their position. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 174,613 shares of company stock worth $8,697,880. 70.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Great-West Lifeco Company Profile

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.