Updating Great-West Lifeco Inc. and Canadian Utilities LTD.

Article Excerpt

GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $34 (www.greatwestlifeco.com) sells health and life insurance in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. It also offers mutual funds, retirement planning and wealth management. The company paid out higher life and health insurance claims in the three months ended March 31, 2016. As a result, its earnings fell 11.4%, to $620 million from $700 million a year earlier. Due to fewer shares outstanding, per-share earnings declined 10.0%, to $0.63 from $0.70. Revenue fell 2.6%, to $12.4 billion from $12.7 billion. Declines from its Canadian and European operations offset gains from its U.S. division. Buy. CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD. $37 (www.canadianutilities.com) distributes electricity and natural gas in Alberta and Australia. It also operates 15 power plants—13 in Canada; 2 in Australia. The company earned $0.65 a share in the first quarter of 2016. That’s up 6.6% from $0.61 a year earlier. If you exclude unusual items, earnings jumped 51.5%. Buy. Buy…