Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Upgraded at TD Securities

TD Securities upgraded shares of Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. TD Securities currently has C$53.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of C$49.00.

GWO has been the topic of a number of other reports. CIBC upped their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$56.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$47.00 to C$51.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$42.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$46.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$52.22.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

Shares of GWO stock opened at C$51.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.61, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a current ratio of 37.46. The firm has a market cap of C$48.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is C$47.35 and its 200-day moving average price is C$46.13. Great-West Lifeco has a one year low of C$38.44 and a one year high of C$52.47.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.555 per share. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, Director Paul Mahon sold 146,826 shares of Great-West Lifeco 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. Also, Senior Officer Colleen Nancy Bailey Moffitt sold 825 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$49.11, for a total transaction of C$40,515.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 66 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$3,241.26. This represents a 92.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 174,613 shares of company stock worth $8,697,880. 70.70% of the stock is owned by company 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.