Jefferies Financial Group Lowers Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Price Target to C$42.00

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) had its price objective reduced by Jefferies Financial Group from C$46.00 to C$42.00 in a research note published on Thursday, BayStreet.CA reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on GWO. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$44.00 to C$45.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$44.00 to C$45.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. TD Securities cut their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$44.00 to C$43.00 in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, National Bankshares increased their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$42.00 to C$43.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of C$43.44.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Down 0.1 %

Great-West Lifeco stock opened at C$40.80 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of C$38.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.96, a current ratio of 37.37 and a quick ratio of 22.18. Great-West Lifeco has a fifty-two week low of C$37.06 and a fifty-two week high of C$45.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of C$40.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$41.89.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported C$1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.02 by C$0.07. The business had revenue of C$7.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$10.58 billion. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 11.74%. As a group, analysts forecast that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.2812813 earnings per share for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were given a dividend of $0.555 per share. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is 63.25%.

Insider Transactions at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, Director Olivier Desmarais sold 1,029 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$40.88, for a total transaction of C$42,065.52. 70.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Great-West Lifeco

Great-West Lifeco Inc engages in the life and health insurance, retirement and investment services, asset management, and reinsurance businesses in Canada, the United States, and Europe. The company offers life, accidental death and dismemberment, disability, critical illness, health and dental protection, and creditor insurance products; and retirement and wealth savings, income and annuity products, and other specialty products to individuals, families, businesses, and organizations.