Aviva (LON:AV) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Aviva plc (LON:AV)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as GBX 558.80 ($7.22) and last traded at GBX 555.20 ($7.17), with a volume of 7198026 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 560.60 ($7.24).

Analyst Ratings Changes

AV has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Aviva from GBX 615 ($7.95) to GBX 635 ($8.20) and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “top pick” rating on shares of Aviva in a report on Friday, December 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aviva currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of GBX 585.67 ($7.57).

Aviva Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 68.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average is GBX 525.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 493.44. The firm has a market capitalization of £14.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.89.

Aviva (LON:AV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported GBX 23.60 ($0.30) earnings per share for the quarter. Aviva had a net margin of 3.52% and a return on equity of 14.82%. On average, analysts predict that Aviva plc will post 46.4942529 earnings per share for the current year.

Aviva Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a GBX 23.80 ($0.31) dividend. This is a positive change from Aviva’s previous dividend of $11.90. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a yield of 4.25%. Aviva’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.07%.

Insider Transactions at Aviva

In related news, insider Amanda Blanc sold 523,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 555 ($7.17), for a total value of £2,906,690.40 ($3,755,413.95). 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aviva Company Profile

Aviva plc provides various insurance, retirement, investment, and savings products in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, and internationally. The company offers life insurance, long-term health and accident insurance, savings, pension, and annuity products, as well as pension fund business and lifetime mortgage products.