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

Shares of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $94.2727.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VOYA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Voya Financial from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Voya Financial from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Voya Financial from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays raised their price objective on Voya Financial from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Voya Financial from $89.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 26th.

Voya Financial Trading Down 0.3%

Voya Financial stock opened at $96.10 on Thursday. Voya Financial has a 52 week low of $64.50 and a 52 week high of $97.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $86.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.57.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. Voya Financial had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The company’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.00 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Voya Financial will post 9.64 EPS for the current year.

Voya Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. Voya Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Voya Financial news, insider Trevor Ogle sold 3,994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $359,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 2,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $259,830. This represents a 58.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Voya Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VOYA. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 26,346 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Bank grew its stake in Voya Financial by 59.9% in the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 49,299 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,688,000 after purchasing an additional 18,462 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in Voya Financial by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 203,101 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,129,000 after purchasing an additional 20,722 shares during the last quarter. Prana Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Voya Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,454,000. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 204,836 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,322,000 after purchasing an additional 28,210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.10% of the company’s stock.

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.