Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Upgraded to “Buy” at TD Securities

TD Securities upgraded shares of Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have C$53.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of C$49.00.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$42.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$46.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. CIBC boosted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$56.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$47.00 to C$51.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$52.22.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

Shares of Great-West Lifeco stock opened at C$51.71 on Friday. Great-West Lifeco has a 12 month low of C$38.44 and a 12 month high of C$52.47. The company has a quick ratio of 22.18, a current ratio of 37.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.61. The stock has a market cap of C$48.20 billion, a PE ratio of 12.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of C$47.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$46.01.

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

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.555 per share. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend 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

In other news, Senior Officer David Martin Harney sold 562 shares of the company’s 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. Also, Senior Officer Colleen Nancy Bailey Moffitt sold 825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 66 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$3,241.26. The trade was a 92.59 % decrease in their position. Insiders have sold 174,613 shares of company stock worth $8,697,880 in the last quarter. 70.70% of the stock is currently 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.