National Bankshares Raises Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Price Target to C$43.00

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) had its price target hoisted by equities researchers at National Bankshares from C$42.00 to C$43.00 in a report issued on Thursday, BayStreet.CA reports. The firm presently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. National Bankshares’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 2.75% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on GWO. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Great-West Lifeco from C$42.00 to C$44.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$42.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. CIBC lifted their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$44.00 to C$46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, TD Securities decreased their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$45.00 to C$44.00 in a report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$43.11.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of TSE:GWO traded up C$1.09 on Thursday, hitting C$41.85. 337,230 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,250,182. Great-West Lifeco has a 12 month low of C$37.06 and a 12 month high of C$45.18. The stock has a market capitalization of C$39.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is C$41.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$42.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.33, a current ratio of 12.42 and a quick ratio of 22.18.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported C$1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$0.99 by C$0.05. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 10.28% and a net margin of 7.95%. The business had revenue of C$20.21 billion during the quarter. Analysts anticipate that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.137561 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Great-West Lifeco news, Senior Officer Dervla Mary Tomlin sold 5,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$42.33, for a total value of C$228,590.10. In related news, Senior Officer Linda Kerrigan sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$42.95, for a total value of C$214,750.00. Also, Senior Officer Dervla Mary Tomlin sold 5,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$42.33, for a total value of C$228,590.10. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,300 shares of company stock worth $566,402. 70.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Great-West Lifeco Company Profile

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.