Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Analysts

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $103.85.

VOYA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Voya Financial from $109.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Voya Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $117.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Voya Financial from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th.

Voya Financial Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of VOYA opened at $97.27 on Tuesday. Voya Financial has a fifty-two week low of $64.50 and a fifty-two week high of $105.64. The company has a market capitalization of $8.81 billion, a PE ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $100.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The asset manager reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.98 by ($0.47). Voya Financial had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 7.45%.The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. Voya Financial’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Voya Financial will post 9.21 EPS for the current year.

Voya Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 26th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Voya Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Voya Financial

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Voya Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,010,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Voya Financial by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 237,550 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $16,229,000 after purchasing an additional 15,186 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Voya Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $850,187,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Voya Financial in the second quarter valued at about $2,045,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Voya Financial by 172.7% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,487 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,945,000 after purchasing an additional 13,608 shares during the period. 96.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Voya Financial

Voya Financial, Inc is a U.S.-based financial services company that helps individuals, employers and institutions plan for retirement, manage investments and address employee benefits needs. Its operations are organized primarily around retirement, employee benefits and investment management.

Through its retirement business, Voya provides workplace retirement plans, including defined contribution and defined benefit solutions, as well as individual retirement products and financial-wellness resources.