Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Hits New 52-Week High - What's Next?

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as C$54.84 and last traded at C$54.72, with a volume of 18404 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$54.48.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$51.00 to C$53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$52.00 to C$54.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Securities upgraded Great-West Lifeco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from C$49.00 to C$53.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$46.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of C$52.22.

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Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

The company has a market cap of C$52.49 billion, a PE ratio of 12.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The business's 50 day moving average is C$51.07 and its 200-day moving average is C$48.63.

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is a boost from Great-West Lifeco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Great-West Lifeco's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.79%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Senior Officer David Martin Harney sold 562 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$47.55, for a total transaction of C$26,721.58. Also, Director Charles Donald Harvey Henaire sold 26,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 90 days, insiders have sold 69,362 shares of company stock worth $3,634,696. 70.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Great-West Lifeco

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.