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

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) had its price objective raised by analysts at Scotiabank from C$59.00 to C$60.00 in a report released on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Scotiabank’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 17.16% from the stock’s current price.

GWO has been the subject of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets raised 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 report on Friday. CIBC upgraded shares of Great-West Lifeco from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from C$56.00 to C$60.00 in a report on Friday. TD Securities raised Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from C$49.00 to C$53.00 in a research report on Friday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$46.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$42.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Great-West Lifeco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$52.22.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Down 2.3 %

GWO stock traded down C$1.18 during trading on Friday, hitting C$51.21. 486,136 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,595,915. The company has a 50-day moving average of C$47.33 and a 200-day moving average of C$46.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.61, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a current ratio of 37.46. Great-West Lifeco has a 1 year low of C$38.44 and a 1 year high of C$52.47. The firm has a market capitalization of C$47.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported C$1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.08 by C$0.06. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 13.21% and a net margin of 11.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. Analysts predict that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Charles Donald Harvey Henaire sold 26,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$49.50, for a total transaction of C$1,306,800.00. Also, Senior Officer David Martin Harney sold 562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$47.55, for a total value of C$26,721.58. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 174,613 shares of company stock valued at $8,697,880. 70.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.