Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $80.76 and last traded at $78.8670, with a volume of 4267627 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $75.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on VOYA shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Voya Financial from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Evercore lowered their price objective on Voya Financial from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Voya Financial from $93.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Voya Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Voya Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.50.

Voya Financial Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $70.01 and a 200-day moving average of $72.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $7.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.86.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The asset manager reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.17). Voya Financial had a return on equity of 13.96% and a net margin of 7.99%.The business had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

Voya Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Voya Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.89%.

Institutional Trading of Voya Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Voya Financial by 21.1% during the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 151,462 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,329,000 after buying an additional 26,346 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Voya Financial by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,662,301 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $199,140,000 after acquiring an additional 88,151 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,431,802 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $181,901,000 after acquiring an additional 43,513 shares in the last quarter. Cadence Bank raised its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 59.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 49,299 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,688,000 after acquiring an additional 18,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its position in shares of Voya Financial by 148.5% during the 3rd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 151,883 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,361,000 after acquiring an additional 90,764 shares during the last quarter. 96.10% of the stock is currently owned by 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.