Jefferies Financial Group Downgrades Aviva (LON:AV) to Hold

Aviva (LON:AV) was downgraded by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Digital Look reports. They currently have a GBX 637 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 1.55% from the company’s previous close.

Separately, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Aviva in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a GBX 760 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of GBX 698.83.

Aviva Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of AV stock opened at GBX 627.30 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 633.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 650.16. Aviva has a 12-month low of GBX 390.70 and a 12-month high of GBX 510.20. The firm has a market cap of £16.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.63.

Aviva (LON:AV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported GBX 26.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Aviva had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 1.82%. As a group, research analysts expect that Aviva will post 46.4942529 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Aviva

In other Aviva news, insider Charlotte Jones sold 222,480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 610, for a total transaction of £1,357,128. Also, insider Pippa Lambert purchased 230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 632 per share, with a total value of £1,453.60. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 686 shares of company stock worth $435,599. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

About Aviva

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. It also provides insurance cover to individuals, small and medium-sized businesses for risks associated with motor vehicles and medical expenses, as well as property and liability, such as employers' and professional indemnity liabilities.