IGM’s outlook outshines its Power family

Article Excerpt

Investors in Great-West, IGM and their parent company Power Corp. enjoy high, sustainable dividend yields. For new buying, however, we prefer IGM and its parent. GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $35 is a hold. The company (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative Growth Payer Portfolio, Finance sector; shares outstanding: 931.9 million; Market cap: $32.6 billion; Dividend yield: 5.9%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is Canada’s second-largest life insurer after Manulife Financial. It also offers mutual funds and wealth management. Power Corp. (see box) owns 68.2% of the firm. With the March 2023 payment, Great-West raised your quarterly dividend by 6.1%, to $0.52 a share from $0.49. The new annual rate of $2.08 yields a high 5.9%. In April 2022, the company’s Empower business completed its $4.45 billion acquisition of the full-service retirement services unit of Prudential Financial (New York symbol PRU). Great-West later sold some of those Empower policies. That’s why its revenue in the quarter ended December 31, 2022, fell 22.3%, to $14.07 billion from $18.12 billion a year earlier…