Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) Upgraded at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. Barclays currently has $93.00 target price on the asset manager’s stock, up from their prior target price of $83.00.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on VOYA. Wall Street Zen raised Voya Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $83.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Voya Financial in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Voya Financial in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Voya Financial from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.67.

Voya Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VOYA opened at $78.72 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $72.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Voya Financial has a 52 week low of $52.43 and a 52 week high of $79.99.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The asset manager reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.23. Voya Financial had a return on equity of 13.89% and a net margin of 7.55%.The business had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Voya Financial will post 8.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Voya Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This is a boost from Voya Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Voya Financial’s payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Voya Financial

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VOYA. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in Voya Financial by 247.1% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 190,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,877,000 after purchasing an additional 135,292 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Voya Financial by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 230,930 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $16,396,000 after purchasing an additional 21,186 shares during the last quarter. Davis Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Voya Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,484,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 119.6% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,085,387 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $148,062,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Voya Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,915,000. 96.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Voya Financial Company Profile

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.