Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Sets New 1-Year High at $46.00

Shares of Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$46.00 and last traded at C$45.92, with a volume of 152739 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$45.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on GWO. Barclays set a C$43.00 price objective on Great-West Lifeco and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$43.00 to C$44.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$46.00 to C$42.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$47.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$43.78.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Down 0.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of C$42.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.61, a current ratio of 37.46 and a quick ratio of 22.18. The company has a fifty day moving average of C$42.48 and a 200-day moving average of C$41.82.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported C$1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$1.05 by C$0.06. The business had revenue of C$8.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$9.83 billion. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 13.21% and a net margin of 11.32%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Great-West Lifeco Inc. will post 4.4885344 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.555 per share. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is 55.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles Donald Harvey Henaire sold 25,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.72, for a total value of C$1,135,888.00. Corporate insiders own 70.65% of the company’s stock.

Great-West Lifeco Company Profile

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.