L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings Sells 75,457 Shares of Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Stock

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) insider L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 75,457 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$53.44, for a total transaction of C$4,032,671.09.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

Shares of GWO opened at C$56.33 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of C$52.44 billion, a PE ratio of 12.89, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50 day moving average price is C$52.12 and its 200 day moving average price is C$49.02. Great-West Lifeco Inc. has a 52 week low of C$38.44 and a 52 week high of C$57.61.

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This is an increase from Great-West Lifeco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is 50.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on GWO shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Great-West Lifeco from C$51.00 to C$58.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays upped their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$46.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Great-West Lifeco from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$54.00 to C$59.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$54.89.

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.