Updating our Conservative stocks: Encana Corp., Great-West Lifeco Inc. and Bank of Nova Scotia

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ENCANA CORP. $6.27 (www.encana.com) has announced the final results of its plan to buy back up to $213 million U.S. of its common shares through a Dutch auction. It will now repurchase 47.3 million shares at $4.50 U.S. each. That’s about 3.5% of the total number of shares outstanding. Share repurchases raise earnings per share and other per-share calculations. That gives the remaining shareholders a larger stake in the company. Buy. GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $30 (www.greatwestlifeco.com) is Canada’s second-largest insurance company, after Manulife Financial. It also offers mutual funds and wealth management services. In the second quarter of 2019, Great-West’s revenue fell 74.1%, to $2.75 billion from $10.6 billion a year earlier. That’s due to the recent sale of its U.S. individual life insurance and annuity business for $1.6 billion. Earnings per share declined 16.7%, to $0.70 from $0.84. Hold. BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $74 (www.scotiabank.com) recently agreed to sell its banking operations in nine Caribbean markets, including Antigua and Barbuda, to…