Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Stock Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Shares of Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$53.20 and traded as high as C$59.19. Great-West Lifeco shares last traded at C$58.96, with a volume of 1,024,936 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Desjardins boosted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. National Bankshares boosted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$52.00 to C$58.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$57.00 to C$58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$58.44.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Up 0.5%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of C$55.70 and a 200 day moving average price of C$53.20. The stock has a market cap of C$54.92 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.65.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 29th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is 58.40%.

Great-West Lifeco announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.