Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Sets New 12-Month High Following Dividend Announcement

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as C$53.95 and last traded at C$53.47, with a volume of 5401747 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$53.13.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.61 dividend. This is a positive change from Great-West Lifeco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.58%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. CIBC upgraded shares of Great-West Lifeco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from C$56.00 to C$60.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Securities upgraded shares of Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from C$49.00 to C$53.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$51.00 to C$53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$52.22.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Down 1.0 %

The company has a market cap of C$49.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average is C$48.74 and its 200-day moving average is C$47.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Great-West Lifeco news, Director Charles Donald Harvey Henaire sold 26,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$53.00, for a total transaction of C$1,383,300.00. Also, Senior Officer David Martin Harney sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$47.55, for a total transaction of C$26,721.58. Insiders have sold a total of 60,062 shares of company stock worth $3,149,764 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 70.70% of the company’s stock.

Great-West Lifeco Company Profile

Great-West Lifeco is one of the three big Canadian life insurance firms. With just under half of the firm’s profit and revenue in Canada, Great-West also operates in the U.S. and Europe. In Canada, Great-West provides both individual and group insurance. In the United States, Great-West operates Putnam Investments and defined-contribution recordkeeping firm Empower Retirement.