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Topic: How To Invest

GREAT-WEST LIFECO $36.57 – Toronto symbol GWO

GREAT-WEST LIFECO $36.57 (Toronto symbol GWO; Shares outstanding: 997.4 million; Market cap: $36.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Yield: 3.6%; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is one of Canada’s largest insurance firms. It also offers mutual funds and wealth management. Power Financial owns 67.1% of Great-West.

In the three months ended March 31, 2015, Great-West’s earnings per share rose 18.6%, to $0.70 from $0.59 a year earlier.

The company’s expansion in the U.S. and Ireland continues, helping it end the latest quarter with $1.2 trillion of assets under administration. That’s up 46.0% from $805.9 billion a year earlier and 102.6% from $581.9 million on March 31, 2013.

In 2013, Great-West paid $1.75 billion for Irish Life Group, a major pension manager and life insurance provider. In 2014, it acquired $207 billion in assets under administration when it bought U.S pension plan manager J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services for an undisclosed amount. As well, it recently acquired the Irish operations of Legal & General Group, which offers investment and tax-planning services to wealthy individuals, also for an undisclosed sum.

The stock trades at just 13.0 times its forecast 2015 earnings of $2.82 a share. Great-West raised its quarterly dividend by 6.0% with the March 2015 payment, to $0.326 from $0.3075. It yields 3.6%.

Great-West Lifeco is still a buy.

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