Scotiabank Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Stock

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) had its price target boosted by Scotiabank from C$59.00 to C$60.00 in a research report released on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. Scotiabank currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on GWO. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. CIBC raised Great-West Lifeco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from C$56.00 to C$60.00 in a report on Friday. TD Securities raised Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from C$49.00 to C$53.00 in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$51.00 to C$53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$42.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$52.22.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

Great-West Lifeco stock opened at C$51.71 on Friday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$47.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$46.01. Great-West Lifeco has a 12 month low of C$38.44 and a 12 month high of C$52.47. The stock has a market capitalization 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.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported C$1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.08 by C$0.06. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.21%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.555 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.29%. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is 55.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Great-West Lifeco

In other Great-West Lifeco news, Director Paul Mahon sold 146,826 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$49.88, for a total transaction of C$7,323,842.39. Also, Director Charles Donald Harvey Henaire sold 26,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$49.50, for a total value of C$1,306,800.00. In the last three months, insiders sold 174,613 shares of company stock worth $8,697,880. 70.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.