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

Shares of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $86.00.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VOYA. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Voya Financial from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Voya Financial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Voya Financial from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group upgraded Voya Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Voya Financial from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Insider Activity at Voya Financial

In other Voya Financial news, insider Tony D. Oh sold 715 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.95, for a total value of $58,594.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Voya Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VOYA. M&G Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 18.6% during the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 117,706 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,357,000 after acquiring an additional 18,471 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in Voya Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,032,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Voya Financial by 13.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,055,263 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $146,234,000 after buying an additional 248,795 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Voya Financial by 15,513.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 20,922 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,657,000 after buying an additional 20,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 77.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 95,012 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,022,000 after buying an additional 41,578 shares in the last quarter. 96.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Voya Financial Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Voya Financial stock opened at $81.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.14. Voya Financial has a 52-week low of $63.11 and a 52-week high of $84.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The asset manager reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.07. Voya Financial had a net margin of 8.81% and a return on equity of 15.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Voya Financial will post 8.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Voya Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.66%.

Voya Financial Company 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.