We still prefer IGM for its dividend yield

Article Excerpt

These two financial services firms continue to benefit from plans to focus on their core businesses. While we like both, we prefer IGM for your new buying due to its modestly lower p/e and higher dividend yield. GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $50 is a hold. The insurance company (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; shares outstanding: 930.7 million; Market cap: $46.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 4.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is Canada’s second-largest life insurer, after Manulife Financial. It also offers pension and wealth management services. Power Corp. (Toronto symbol POW) owns 68.3% of the firm. The company continues to benefit from recent acquisitions that increased its focus on wealth management and retirement services. Those purchases include its April 2022 acquisition of Empower, the full-service retirement business of U.S.-based Prudential Financial Inc. (New York symbol PRU) for $4.35 billion. As well, in November 2023, the company paid $575 million to IGM (see right) for Investment Planning Counsel, which provides…