Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, March 15, 2019

Article Excerpt

GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC., $31.41, Toronto symbol GWO, is Canada’s second-largest insurance company, after Manulife Financial (Toronto symbol MFC). It also offers mutual funds and wealth management services. Starting with the March 2019 payment, the company raised its quarterly dividend by 6.2%, to $0.413 a share from $0.389. The new annual rate of $1.65 yields a high 5.3%. The company now plans to buy back up to $2 billion in common shares. That’s equal to 6% of its $31.0 billion market cap (the total value of all shares outstanding). Great-West will repurchase those shares through a Dutch auction process. Under that buyback plan, shareholders who want to sell their Great-West shares must offer them for between $30.00 and $35.00 (in increments of $0.10) before April 12, 2019. The final price will be the lowest amount within that range at which Great-West can buy the maximum number of shares for $2 billion. The company will then pay that price for all shares tendered at or below…