CIBC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Stock

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) had its target price raised by CIBC from C$65.00 to C$67.00 in a research note issued on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. CIBC’s target price points to a potential upside of 11.85% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on GWO. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$59.00 to C$61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. National Bankshares boosted their price target on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$58.00 to C$59.00 in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group raised Great-West Lifeco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$58.00 to C$59.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Desjardins increased their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$55.00 to C$60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Two investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$60.22.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of TSE GWO traded down C$0.98 during trading hours on Friday, reaching C$59.90. 1,050,233 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,580,927. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is C$56.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$53.70. The company has a market capitalization of C$55.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.63. Great-West Lifeco has a 52-week low of C$44.89 and a 52-week high of C$61.39.

Great-West Lifeco announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 5th that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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.