Jefferies Financial Group Boosts Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Price Target to C$58.00

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO - Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from C$51.00 to C$58.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on GWO. TD Securities increased their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$53.00 to C$62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Desjardins boosted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$49.00 to C$53.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$54.00 to C$59.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$51.00 to C$53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of C$54.89.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

Shares of GWO stock traded down C$0.43 on Thursday, hitting C$53.00. 1,502,300 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,048,186. Great-West Lifeco has a 52 week low of C$38.44 and a 52 week high of C$57.61. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of C$52.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$49.08. The firm has a market cap of C$49.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84.

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This is a positive change from Great-West Lifeco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.60%. Great-West Lifeco's payout ratio is 50.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Great-West Lifeco

In related news, insider L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 75,457 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$53.44, for a total transaction of C$4,032,671.09. Also, Director Charles Donald Harvey Henaire sold 26,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$53.00, for a total transaction of C$1,383,300.00. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 144,257 shares of company stock valued at $7,640,646. Company 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.