Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Reaches New 52-Week High After Dividend Announcement

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as C$53.95 and last traded at C$53.47, with a volume of 5401747 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$53.13.The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is an increase from Great-West Lifeco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Great-West Lifeco's payout ratio is currently 50.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target 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 note on Friday, February 7th. TD Securities upgraded Great-West Lifeco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from C$49.00 to C$53.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Desjardins boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$49.00 to C$53.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on 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 given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of C$52.22.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of C$49.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.24, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The business's 50 day moving average price is C$48.62 and its 200 day moving average price is C$47.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, Senior Officer Dervla Mary Tomlin sold 5,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$52.17, for a total value of C$271,292.84. Also, Director Charles Donald Harvey Henaire sold 26,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$53.00, for a total value of C$1,383,300.00. Insiders sold 60,062 shares of company stock worth $3,149,764 over the last three months. 70.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.

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