TD Securities Issues Positive Forecast for Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Stock Price

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO - Free Report) had its price target increased by TD Securities from C$53.00 to C$62.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. CIBC raised shares of Great-West Lifeco from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from C$56.00 to C$60.00 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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 report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Desjardins lifted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$49.00 to C$53.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of C$54.89.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Great-West Lifeco stock traded down C$0.43 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting C$53.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,502,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,048,186. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of C$52.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$49.08. The firm has a market capitalization of C$49.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. Great-West Lifeco has a 1-year low of C$38.44 and a 1-year high of C$57.61.

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Great-West Lifeco

In other Great-West Lifeco news, Senior Officer Linda Kerrigan sold 8,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$51.64, for a total transaction of C$438,927.25. Also, Director Charles Donald Harvey Henaire sold 26,100 shares of the company'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 value of C$1,383,300.00. Insiders sold a total of 144,257 shares of company stock valued at $7,640,646 in the last ninety days. 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.