Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $78.00 and last traded at $77.2860, with a volume of 296411 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $75.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Voya Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Voya Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $87.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Voya Financial from $83.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Voya Financial from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.56.

Voya Financial Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $72.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.35 billion, a PE ratio of 13.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.90.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The asset manager reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.23. Voya Financial had a net margin of 7.55% and a return on equity of 13.89%. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 8.39 EPS for the current year.

Voya Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th were issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 26th. This is an increase from Voya Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Voya Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.30%.

Institutional Trading of Voya Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 247.1% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 190,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,877,000 after acquiring an additional 135,292 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Voya Financial by 10.1% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 230,930 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $16,396,000 after purchasing an additional 21,186 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Voya Financial by 119.6% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,085,387 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $148,062,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135,935 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Voya Financial by 7.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,539,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $393,270,000 after purchasing an additional 407,426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Voya Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $1,124,000. 96.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Voya Financial

Voya Financial, Inc (NYSE: VOYA) is a financial services company headquartered in New York City, focused on helping Americans plan, invest and protect their savings. The company traces its roots to the U.S. operations of ING Group, which were spun off in 2013 and rebranded as Voya Financial in 2014. Voya’s operations are built around a customer-centric approach, drawing on decades of experience in retirement planning and risk management to serve both individual and institutional clients.

Voya’s core business activities span three key segments: Retirement, Investment Management and Employee Benefits.