Payout Boost: GWO ups dividend

Article Excerpt

GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $37 (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative-Growth Payer Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 986.4 million; Market cap: $36.5 billion; Dividend Yield: 4.0%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.greatwestlifeco. com) is Canada’s second-largest insurance company, after Manulife Financial (Toronto symbol MFC). It also offers mutual funds, retirement planning and wealth management services. Power Financial (Toronto symbol PWF) owns 67.6% of Great-West. The company will increase its quarterly dividend by 6.1% with the March 2017 payment. Investors will then receive $0.367 a share, up from $0.346. The new annual rate of $1.47 yields 4.0%. The company owns U.S. mutual fund manager Putnam Investments. That business has suffered lately as investors pull their money out of Putnam’s funds to put in to cheaper exchange-traded funds. Those ETFs are increasingly popular. In response, the company now plans to cut 8% of Putnam’s workforce. Great-West Lifeco is a hold. hold…