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

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA)’s share price hit 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Voya Financial in a research note on Monday, April 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Voya Financial from $89.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Voya Financial from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Voya Financial from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Voya Financial from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.20.

Voya Financial Stock Up 3.6%

The company has a market cap of $7.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $76.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.16. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.24. Voya Financial had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current year.

Voya Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Voya Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Voya Financial by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,492,908 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $334,677,000 after acquiring an additional 230,877 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Voya Financial by 1.3% during the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,673,118 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $250,947,000 after acquiring an additional 46,906 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Voya Financial by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,557,281 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $265,363,000 after acquiring an additional 61,962 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Voya Financial by 6.8% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,418,536 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $242,716,000 after acquiring an additional 219,130 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Voya Financial by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,706,354 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $201,596,000 after acquiring an additional 44,053 shares during the period. 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.