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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GWO. Scotiabank upped 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 note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$47.00 to C$51.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped 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 note on Wednesday, October 16th. CIBC upped their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$51.00 to C$55.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$46.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One 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 data from MarketBeat, Great-West Lifeco has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$47.75.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Up 0.5 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is C$47.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$45.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.61, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a current ratio of 37.46. The firm has a market cap of C$43.49 billion, a PE ratio of 11.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported C$1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco Inc. will post 4.4525194 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Great-West Lifeco Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles Donald Harvey Henaire sold 26,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 quarter, insiders sold 174,613 shares of company stock worth $8,697,880. 70.70% 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.