Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Receives C$47.63 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Shares of Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$47.63.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$47.00 to C$51.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$44.00 to C$50.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$42.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. CIBC upped their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$51.00 to C$55.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$43.00 to C$45.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Up 0.5 %

GWO traded up C$0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching C$46.77. The stock had a trading volume of 1,110,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,794,566. 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 has a 52 week low of C$38.44 and a 52 week high of C$50.99. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is C$48.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$44.16. The stock has a market capitalization of C$43.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.555 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.75%. Great-West Lifeco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Great-West Lifeco news, Senior Officer Colleen Nancy Bailey Moffitt sold 825 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$49.11, for a total transaction of C$40,515.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 66 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$3,241.26. This represents a 92.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director Richard Henry Linton sold 35,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$46.27, for a total value of C$1,656,344.28. In the last three months, insiders have sold 209,851 shares of company stock valued at $10,327,502. 70.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.