Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Stock Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$77.25 and traded as high as C$89.73. Great-West Lifeco shares last traded at C$89.16, with a volume of 1,591,298 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GWO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$95.00 to C$97.00 in a report on Thursday, July 30th. National Bank Financial lifted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$93.00 to C$95.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Desjardins lifted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$93.00 to C$95.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$84.00 to C$107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, TD upped their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$98.00 to C$106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$93.27.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Up 1.4%

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is C$90.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$77.43. The company has a market cap of C$80.99 billion, a PE ratio of 18.69, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.63, a current ratio of 6.07 and a quick ratio of 22.18.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported C$1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 15.48%. The business had revenue of C$8.35 billion for the quarter. On average, analysts predict that Great-West Lifeco Inc. will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.89%.

Insider Activity at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, insider Jean-Francois Poulin sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$89.55, for a total transaction of C$1,791,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$14,328. This represents a 99.21% decrease in their position. Also, Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$86.20, for a total value of C$3,448,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,784 shares in the company, valued at C$757,180.80. This trade represents a 81.99% decrease in their position. 70.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Great-West Lifeco

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. In 2020, Great-West announced it would acquire Personal Capital and MassMutual’s recordkeeping business. In Europe, Great-West offers life insurance, annuities, and reinsurance primarily in the U.K., Ireland, and Germany.