BMO Capital Markets Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Stock

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets from C$60.00 to C$66.00 in a research note issued on Monday,BayStreet.CA reports. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 9.98% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$58.00 to C$59.00 in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank raised 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. UBS Group upgraded Great-West Lifeco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. National Bankshares raised their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$58.00 to C$59.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Desjardins boosted their price target on shares of 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 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$62.11.

Great-West Lifeco Price Performance

Shares of Great-West Lifeco stock traded up C$0.11 during midday trading on Monday, hitting C$60.01. The company had a trading volume of 402,605 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,570,603. Great-West Lifeco has a 1-year low of C$44.89 and a 1-year high of C$61.39. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is C$56.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$53.78. The stock has a market cap of C$55.23 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.63.

Great-West Lifeco declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 5th that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication 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.