Wright Investors Service Inc. Has $759,000 Stake in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA)

Wright Investors Service Inc. grew its stake in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) by 7.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,586 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Voya Financial were worth $759,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Voya Financial by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 63,950 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,666,000 after buying an additional 4,450 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 111,256 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,117,000 after acquiring an additional 1,827 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 128.3% during the fourth quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 9,159 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $668,000 after purchasing an additional 5,148 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 50.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,871 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gillson Capital LP acquired a new stake in Voya Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $11,142,000. 96.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on VOYA. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Voya Financial in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Voya Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Raymond James lowered shares of Voya Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Voya Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.82.

Voya Financial Stock Up 2.1 %

VOYA traded up $1.63 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $79.97. The company had a trading volume of 600,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 825,280. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $71.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.94. Voya Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $63.02 and a 52 week high of $80.16. The company has a market capitalization of $8.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The asset manager reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Voya Financial had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 10.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 8.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is an increase from Voya Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Voya Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.57%.

Voya Financial Profile

Voya Financial, Inc engages in the provision of workplace benefits and savings products in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Wealth Solutions, Health Solutions, and Investment Management. The Wealth Solutions segment offers full-service retirement products; recordkeeping services; stable value and fixed general account investment products; non-qualified plan administration services; and tools, guidance, and services to promote the financial well-being and retirement security of employees.