Higher interest rates add to its risk

Article Excerpt

AVIVA PLC. $11 is a hold. The company (Over-the-counter Pink Sheets symbol AVVIY; Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 2.0 billion; Market cap: $22.0 billion; Dividend yield: 5.7%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.aviva.com) is a U.K.-based provider of life, health and property insurance products. It also offers wealth management and other investment services. It has about 33 million customers in 16 countries. As part of its plan to focus on the U.K., Ireland and Canada, the insurer has sold eight businesses in the past year for 7.5 billion British pounds (1 pound=$1.74 Canadian). The company plans to return some of that cash to shareholders. Swedish activist investor Cevian Capital AB, which now owns 4.95% of Aviva, supports that plan. However, it also wants the company to expand its cost-cutting goal, from 300 million pounds by 2022 to 500 million pounds by 2023. Cevian believes that action would let Aviva double its dividend for investors as well as its stock price. The company’s shares have jumped…