Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $96.34 and last traded at $96.28, with a volume of 871721 shares. The stock had previously closed at $94.37.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VOYA shares. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Voya Financial from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Voya Financial from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Voya Financial from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Voya Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.64.

Voya Financial Trading Up 2.0%

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.73 billion, a PE ratio of 14.54, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $85.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. Voya Financial had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 13.84%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Voya Financial news, insider Trevor Ogle sold 3,994 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,830. The trade was a 58.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Voya Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VOYA. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 21.1% in the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 151,462 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,329,000 after purchasing an additional 26,346 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Voya Financial by 1.8% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,431,802 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $181,901,000 after purchasing an additional 43,513 shares during the period. Cadence Bank lifted its stake 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 valued at $3,688,000 after buying an additional 18,462 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 203,101 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $15,129,000 after buying an additional 20,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prana Capital Management LP bought a new position in Voya Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,454,000. 96.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.