Aviva (LON:AV) Reaches New 12-Month High - Here's What Happened

Aviva plc (LON:AV - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as GBX 558.80 ($7.21) and last traded at GBX 555.20 ($7.16), with a volume of 7198026 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 560.60 ($7.23).

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Aviva from GBX 615 ($7.93) to GBX 635 ($8.19) and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "top pick" rating on shares of Aviva in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of GBX 585.67 ($7.56).

Aviva Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of £14.91 billion, a PE ratio of 11.43, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 529.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 495.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 68.87, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

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

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Aviva Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 an increase from Aviva's previous dividend of $11.90. This represents a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Aviva's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.07%.

Insider Transactions at Aviva

In other Aviva news, insider Amanda Blanc sold 523,728 shares of Aviva stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 555 ($7.16), for a total value of £2,906,690.40 ($3,749,600.62). Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

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.