Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eight analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$43.78.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GWO shares. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$43.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays set a C$43.00 target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$47.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$46.00 to C$42.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Up 0.6 %

TSE GWO opened at C$46.12 on Tuesday. Great-West Lifeco has a twelve month low of C$37.06 and a twelve month high of C$46.34. The stock has a market cap of C$42.99 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of C$43.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$42.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.61, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a current ratio of 37.46.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported C$1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$1.05 by C$0.06. The company had revenue of C$8.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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, research analysts forecast that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4911765 EPS for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.555 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.81%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is 55.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, Director Charles Donald Harvey Henaire sold 25,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was 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.

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.