Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Stock Price Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$45.45 and traded as high as C$46.58. Great-West Lifeco shares last traded at C$46.44, with a volume of 1,453,871 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GWO has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$47.00 to C$51.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$51.00 to C$55.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$42.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$44.00 to C$50.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$47.75.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Up 0.5 %

The company has a quick ratio of 22.18, a current ratio of 37.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.61. The company has a market capitalization of C$43.49 billion, a PE ratio of 11.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is C$47.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$45.54.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported C$1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.08 by C$0.06. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.21%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Great-West Lifeco Inc. will post 4.4525194 EPS for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.555 per share. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is presently 55.78%.

Insider Activity at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, Director Charles Donald Harvey Henaire sold 26,400 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$49.50, for a total value of C$1,306,800.00. Also, Director Paul Mahon sold 146,826 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$49.88, for a total transaction of C$7,323,842.39. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 174,613 shares of company stock valued at $8,697,880. Insiders own 70.70% of the company’s stock.

Great-West Lifeco Company Profile

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.