Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) Stock Bumped Down to Hold by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) from a moderate buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Zacks reports.

VOYA has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Voya Financial from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $111.00 price objective on shares of Voya Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Voya Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.15.

Voya Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VOYA opened at $94.82 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.77. Voya Financial has a 12 month low of $64.50 and a 12 month high of $105.64.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The asset manager reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.98 by ($0.47). The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Voya Financial had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 7.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Voya Financial will post 9.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 26th were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 26th. Voya Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.70%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VOYA. Diversified Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Voya Financial during the third quarter worth about $710,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 7.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,217 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 8.4% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $176,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Voya Financial by 29.6% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 696 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Voya Financial by 9.8% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,078 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $641,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. 96.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Voya Financial

Voya Financial, Inc is a financial services company that helps individuals, employers and institutions plan, invest and prepare for retirement. The company operates primarily in the United States and focuses on retirement plans, employee benefits and investment management.

Voya’s retirement business provides workplace retirement plans and related services, including plan administration, participant education and advice. Its employee benefits business offers products and services such as group life insurance, disability insurance, supplemental health benefits and health savings account solutions.

Through its investment management operations, Voya serves institutional and individual investors with investment strategies across public and private markets.