CIBC Issues Positive Forecast for Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Stock Price

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) had its price objective upped by equities research analysts at CIBC from C$65.00 to C$67.00 in a report issued on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. CIBC’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 11.85% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on GWO. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$58.00 to C$59.00 in a research note on Thursday. Desjardins raised their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. National Bankshares lifted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$58.00 to C$59.00 in a research report on Thursday. TD Securities increased their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$66.00 to C$70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$60.22.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Down 1.6%

GWO traded down C$0.98 during trading hours on Friday, hitting C$59.90. The stock had a trading volume of 1,050,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,580,927. Great-West Lifeco has a 1 year low of C$44.89 and a 1 year high of C$61.39. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is C$56.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$53.70. The stock has a market cap of C$55.39 billion, a PE ratio of 15.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.63.

Great-West Lifeco announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 5th that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.