Aviva plc up 3.2% as the number of Covid-19 cases increase

Recent movements on the market indicate that the prices of the shares of a very famous company Aviva plc are going up by more than 3%. The United Kingdom-based holding company, Aviva, is famous for providing life insurance, general insurance, and asset management products and services.

This year, the prices of the shares of the company were very largely influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic. In general, the coronavirus pandemic had a huge effect on many markets around the world. The companies around the world suffered a lot because of the restrictions that were on the place, and some of them are having a very hard time overcoming those challenges even today.

Top Stock brokers around the world have reported that the prices of the shares of Aviva are increasing. One of the main reasons for this recent trend is the fact that many countries have reported increasing numbers of Covid-19 cases, which is resulting in increased demand for medical products and supplies.

Recently, Fitch Ratings has affirmed the outlook of the company as stable, at a level of AA-. As the report of Fitch ratings said, the business profile of the company is very strong with just as strong earnings. Compared to all other UK and European life insurance companies, the rank of the company stands as ‘favorable’, which a very strong business profile. This means that Aviva stands to be one of the largest insurance groups in the UK with a very strong franchise across all of the business lines.

Prices of Aviva shares over the last year

The mountain chart shown above indicates the changing prices of the shares of Aviva. At the end of 2019, it can be seen that the prices were going up a little but. It started dropping a little at the beginning of 2020, however, it was not that significant until March.

In March, when the Covid-19 started spreading all over the world, and, with it, in the UK as well, the prices of the shares of Aviva started dropping significantly. It happened during the period that is now known as the Stock Market Crash of 2020. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the whole market crashed overnight. The prices of shares of most of the companies on the market were down, and some, still are having a very hard time overcoming the problems.

Although the prices of shares of Aviva almost doubled since this period, the company is still going through some hardships. The P/E ratio of the company stands at around 5, which means that the price of the shares is very good for investors who want to buy it. However, because of the uncertainty that the market is in as of now, it is very hard to predict anything. Generally, you would prefer to invest in companies that have the P/E ratio under 20.

As of now, the situation is changing a little. Because of the huge demand for medical products and services, the prices of the shares of Aviva is increasing. Most of Europe has already adopted new restrictions to fight against the spread of the coronavirus. The UK is no exception, here, the leadership of the country has recently announced new lockdown measures to overcome the challenges that were raised by the coronavirus.

Also, the fact that the Fitch Ratings has given the company a level of AA-, which means a very strong situation, is helping the shares of the company to increase in price. Fitch has a need that the capital position of the company remains very strong, and they also claim that it has been very much resilient through the coronavirus pandemic, which is something that can not be said about many other companies in the industry.

Aviva is a British multinational insurance company, which is headquartered in London. The company has more than 33 million customers in more than 16 countries around the world, and, in the UK, it stands to be the largest general insurer, and is a leading life and pensions provider. The company was founded 20 years ago, in 2000. The revenue of the company in 2019 alone was as much as £70,252 million, and, as of 2020, it employees more than 31,000 people.