National Bank Financial Issues Positive Forecast for Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Stock Price

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) had its target price lifted by analysts at National Bank Financial from C$73.00 to C$93.00 in a report issued on Thursday,BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. National Bank Financial’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 1.78% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on GWO. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$84.00 to C$107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Scotia upped their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$78.00 to C$83.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$81.00 to C$95.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$64.00 to C$77.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$76.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$86.36.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

Shares of Great-West Lifeco stock traded down C$0.75 on Thursday, hitting C$91.37. 301,273 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,639,110. Great-West Lifeco has a 12-month low of C$51.60 and a 12-month high of C$93.69. The company has a current ratio of 6.57, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59. The company has a market cap of C$82.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is C$85.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$73.08.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 15.17%. The company had revenue of C$8.37 billion during the quarter. Analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Great-West Lifeco

In other Great-West Lifeco news, Director Mei Dong sold 39,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$76.33, for a total value of C$3,007,402.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,721 shares in the company, valued at C$207,693.93. This represents a 93.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director Edmund Francis Murphy sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$86.20, for a total value of C$3,448,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$757,180.80. The trade was a 81.99% decrease in their position. Insiders have sold a total of 119,200 shares of company stock worth $9,821,888 in the last ninety days. 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. 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.