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

CIBC upgraded shares of Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has C$60.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of C$56.00.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on GWO. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$51.00 to C$53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank raised shares of Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on 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. Finally, TD Securities upgraded Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from C$49.00 to C$53.00 in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Great-West Lifeco currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$52.22.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of GWO opened at C$51.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of C$48.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. Great-West Lifeco has a 52 week low of C$38.44 and a 52 week high of C$52.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is C$47.35 and its 200-day moving average price is C$46.13. 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.29%. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is 55.78%.

Insider Transactions at Great-West Lifeco

In related news, Director Paul Mahon sold 146,826 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$49.88, for a total transaction of C$7,323,842.39. Also, Director Charles Donald Harvey Henaire sold 26,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$49.50, for a total transaction of C$1,306,800.00. In the last three months, insiders sold 174,613 shares of company stock valued at $8,697,880. 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.