Great West Lifeco (GWO-T)

Dividend probably safe. Prefers the diversification with POW. Nothing against it, but he'd buy SLF and MFC ahead of this one. Fairly well managed and well capitalized. Good yield.

Inexpensive at 9-10x earnings. Fantastic dividend yield, almost 6%. Peers are pursuing EMs. GWO is doing the opposite, focusing on mature markets. Very well run. Conservative, nice total return.

GWO is now trading at 9.7x times' Forward P/E. In Q4 – 2022, EPS of $0.96 beat estimates of $0.88. ROE is good at 13.6%. 
Total asset under management remained largely flat at $1.03B. Based on consensus estimates, EPS is expected to grow by 6% in 2023. 
The financial position is strong with long-term debt (excluding lease) of $10.5B against total Equity of $32B.
The company also increased dividends by 6% and gave out medium-term guidance to grow EPS by 9% on average while maintaining an ROE of 14-15% on average.
Overall, we think this is a good quarter, the company continues to execute well with their previous guidance.
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Their business mix is different from its peers. GWO is a major part of Power Corp. GWO reports tomorrow. The street expects earnings to be down YOY, but analysts estimates are low, so there could be a beat. They pay an excellent dividend which is safe. Prefers SLF, MFC of Industrial Alliance.

GWO stock pays a 5.57%dividend yield, fine for income earners, and trades at 11.06x earnings. Of the three listed here, GWO boasts the lowest beta at 0.79, so it’s a stable ship on choppy seas. It has beaten three of its last four quarters, but missed the last in November 2022. While the dividend should be stable, GWO’s earnings growth lags its peers and the wider market. Annual growth over the last five year stands at 6.4% while the industry boasts 24.1% and the wider market 21.5%. Last year, GWO earnings growth actually declined by 9.7% while its peers climbed 5.1% and the market 9.4%. Read 4 Insurance Stocks to Stay Safe in a Risky Market for our full analysis.