Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $85.8889.

Several equities research analysts have commented on VOYA shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Voya Financial from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Barclays raised shares of Voya Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $83.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group set a $90.00 target price on shares of Voya Financial in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Voya Financial in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

Voya Financial Stock Performance

Shares of VOYA stock opened at $69.78 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.04. The company has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.90. Voya Financial has a 12-month low of $52.43 and a 12-month high of $79.99.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The asset manager reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. Voya Financial had a return on equity of 13.96% and a net margin of 7.99%.The company’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Voya Financial will post 8.39 EPS for the current year.

Voya Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. Voya Financial’s payout ratio is presently 29.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Voya Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Voya Financial by 75.5% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 351 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Voya Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Voya Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Voya Financial by 149.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 481 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.10% of the company’s stock.

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.