Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Upgraded at Scotiabank

Scotiabank upgraded shares of Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

GWO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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 note on Wednesday, October 16th. CIBC raised their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$56.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$47.00 to C$51.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$47.88.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

Shares of GWO opened at C$47.47 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of C$47.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$45.89. The stock has a market cap of C$44.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93, a PEG 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. Great-West Lifeco has a one year low of C$38.44 and a one year high of C$50.99.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported C$1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$1.08 by C$0.06. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.21%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.68%. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is presently 55.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Great-West Lifeco news, Director Paul Mahon sold 146,826 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$49.88, for a total value of C$7,323,842.39. Also, Senior Officer Colleen Nancy Bailey Moffitt sold 825 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 66 shares in the company, valued at C$3,241.26. The trade was a 92.59 % decrease in their position. Insiders sold 174,613 shares of company stock worth $8,697,880 in the last 90 days. 70.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.