Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Share Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO - Get Free Report)'s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$48.09 and traded as high as C$52.65. Great-West Lifeco shares last traded at C$52.25, with a volume of 2,605,745 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GWO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$46.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Desjardins lifted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$49.00 to C$53.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. CIBC upgraded Great-West Lifeco from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from C$56.00 to C$60.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of C$52.22.

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Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of C$49.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of C$50.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$48.26.

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. 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 4.60%. Great-West Lifeco's payout ratio is currently 50.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Christine Marie Moritz sold 4,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$52.09, for a total transaction of C$244,827.70. Also, Senior Officer David Martin Harney sold 562 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$47.55, for a total value of C$26,721.58. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 69,362 shares of company stock valued at $3,634,696. 70.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.