Great-West stands out

Article Excerpt

This month we single out Bank of Nova Scotia as our #1 pick for 2014 (see at left). But we also considered a number of other stocks, including Great-West Lifeco. GREAT-WEST LIFECO $30.77 (Toronto symbol GWO; Shares outstanding: 999.4 million; Market cap: $30.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Yield: 4.0%; www.greatwestlifeco.com) bought Irish Life Group, Ireland’s largest pension manager and life insurance provider, for $1.75 billion last year. Excluding costs to integrate Irish Life, earnings per share rose 7.3% in the three months ended September 30, 2013, to $0.59 from $0.55 a year earlier. The company has $705.1 billion of assets under administration. Great-West’s Canadian and European divisions are reporting rising profits, and Irish Life is already adding to its earnings. The U.S. division remains profitable, although its money-losing Putnam mutual fund business, while now generating positive cash flow, continues to hold back its profits. However, Putnam will likely begin contributing to the division’s earnings next year. The stock trades…