Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $85.68 and last traded at $85.4450, with a volume of 258114 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $83.94.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VOYA. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Voya Financial in a research report on Monday, April 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $89.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.20.

Voya Financial Stock Up 3.4%

The business’s 50 day moving average is $77.14 and its 200 day moving average is $74.25. The company has a market capitalization of $7.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.98 billion. Voya Financial had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 13.84%. Voya Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.00 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Voya Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Voya Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.40%.

Institutional Trading of Voya Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Amundi boosted its stake in Voya Financial by 811.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 44,983 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,073,000 after purchasing an additional 40,046 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Voya Financial by 24.8% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 113,207 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,734,000 after purchasing an additional 22,484 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Voya Financial by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 48,204 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,293,000 after purchasing an additional 5,458 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake 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 worth $16,229,000 after purchasing an additional 15,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Voya Financial by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 189,949 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,977,000 after purchasing an additional 22,439 shares in the last quarter. 96.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.