How to buy Great-West Lifeco (GWO) stocks

Great-West Lifeco is an insurance - life business based in Canada. Great-West Lifeco shares (GWO) are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and all prices are listed in Canadian Dollars.

Its last market close was C$47.14 – an increase of 0.79% over the previous week. Great-West Lifeco employs 33,500 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around C$33.3 billion.

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Great-West Lifeco stock price (Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX): GWO)

Use our graph to track the performance of GWO stocks over time.

Great-West Lifeco stocks at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2024-12-18.

Latest market close	C$47.14
52-week range	C$37.53 - C$50.42
50-day moving average more info button	C$48.07
200-day moving average more info button	C$43.67
Wall St. target price	C$49.50
PE ratio more info button	12.0566
Dividend yield more info button	C$2.185 (4.73%)
Earnings per share (TTM) more info button	C$3.89

Is it a good time to buy Great-West Lifeco stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

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Great-West Lifeco price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of C$46.72 from 2024-12-19

1 week (2024-12-13)	-0.11%
1 month (2024-11-22)	-6.17%
3 months (2024-09-20)	1.99%
6 months (2024-06-21)	18.73%

1 year (2023-12-22)	9.03%
2 years (2022-12-22)	67.64%
3 years (2021-12-22)	46.73%
5 years (2019-12-20)	84.46%

Is Great-West Lifeco stock undervalued or overvalued?

Valuing Great-West Lifeco stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Great-West Lifeco's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Great-West Lifeco's P/E ratio

Great-West Lifeco's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 12x. In other words, Great-West Lifeco shares trade at around 12x recent earnings.

Great-West Lifeco's PEG ratio

Great-West Lifeco's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 0.8261. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the stocks offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the stocks offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Great-West Lifeco's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the stock prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Great-West Lifeco's EBITDA

Great-West Lifeco's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is C$8.8 billion.

The EBITDA is a measure of a Great-West Lifeco's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Great-West Lifeco financials

Revenue TTM	C$33.3 billion
Operating margin TTM	15.24%
Gross profit TTM	C$12.3 billion
Return on assets TTM	0.71%
Return on equity TTM	12.63%
Profit margin	11.09%
Book value	C$27.39
Market Capitalization more info button	C$43.7 billion
EBITDA more info button	C$8.8 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Great-West Lifeco's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Great-West Lifeco.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Great-West Lifeco's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 30.36

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Great-West Lifeco's overall score of 30.36 (as at 12/31/2018) is nothing to write home about – landing it in it in the 47th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Great-West Lifeco is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Great-West Lifeco's environmental score

Environmental score: 7.6/100

Great-West Lifeco's environmental score of 7.6 puts it squarely in the 8th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Great-West Lifeco is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Great-West Lifeco's social score

Social score: 13.87/100

Great-West Lifeco's social score of 13.87 puts it squarely in the 8th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Great-West Lifeco is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Great-West Lifeco's governance score

Governance score: 16.89/100

Great-West Lifeco's governance score puts it squarely in the 8th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Great-West Lifeco is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Great-West Lifeco's controversy score

Controversy score: 1/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Great-West Lifeco scored a 1 out of 5 for controversy – the highest score possible, reflecting that Great-West Lifeco has managed to keep its nose clean.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Great-West Lifeco Inc. was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.

Total ESG score	30.36
Total ESG percentile	46.92
Environmental score	7.6
Environmental score percentile	8
Social score	13.87
Social score percentile	8
Governance score	16.89
Governance score percentile	8
Level of controversy	1

Great-West Lifeco stock dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 51.14% of net profits

Recently Great-West Lifeco has paid out, on average, around 100% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 0% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Great-West Lifeco shareholders could enjoy a 0% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Great-West Lifeco's case, that would currently equate to about C$2.185 per share.

Great-West Lifeco's payout ratio would broadly be considered high, and as such this stock could appeal to those looking to generate an income. Bear in mind however that companies should normally also look to re-invest a decent amount of net profits to ensure future growth.

Great-West Lifeco's most recent dividend payout was on 30 December 2024. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their stocks by 2 December 2024 (the "ex-dividend date").

Have Great-West Lifeco's stocks ever split?

Great-West Lifeco's stocks were split on a 2:1 basis on 3 October 2004 . So if you had owned 1 share the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 2 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Great-West Lifeco stocks – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 50% lower stock price could have impacted the market appetite for Great-West Lifeco stocks, which in turn could have impacted Great-West Lifeco's stock price.

Great-West Lifeco stock price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Great-West Lifeco's stocks have ranged in value from as little as C$37.533 up to C$50.4235. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta."

Beta is a measure of a stocks volatility in relation to the market. The market (TO average) beta is 1, while Great-West Lifeco's is 0.84. This would suggest that Great-West Lifeco's stocks are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

Great-West Lifeco overview

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. It provides individual product solutions and employer-sponsored retirement savings plans that offers saving, investment, and advisory services; wealth management including payout annuity, equity release mortgages, pensions, and investments products. In addition, the company offers bulk and individual payout annuities, equity release mortgages, life bonds, and retirement drawdown and pension products; savings and investments; and provides asset management services, such as pension schemes, insurance companies, wealth managers, fiduciary managers, and sovereign wealth funds, as well manages assets for third-party institutional clients. Further, it provides life, annuity/longevity, mortgage surety, and property catastrophe reinsurance products. The company offers its products under the Canada Life, Irish Life, and Empower brand names.

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Frequently asked questions

What percentage of Great-West Lifeco is owned by insiders or institutions?
Currently 70.652% of Great-West Lifeco stocks are held by insiders and 11.798% by institutions. How many people work for Great-West Lifeco?
Latest data suggests 33,500 work at Great-West Lifeco. When does the fiscal year end for Great-West Lifeco?
Great-West Lifeco's fiscal year ends in December. Where is Great-West Lifeco based?
Great-West Lifeco's address is: 100 Osborne Street North, Winnipeg, MB, Canada, R3C 1V3 What is Great-West Lifeco's ISIN number?
Great-West Lifeco's international securities identification number is: CA39138C1068

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