Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 843,134 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 24% from the previous session’s volume of 1,104,739 shares.The stock last traded at $102.9580 and had previously closed at $102.12.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on VOYA shares. Atlantic Securities set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Voya Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $109.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Voya Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Voya Financial from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.85.

Voya Financial Trading Up 0.8%

The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.60. The stock has a market cap of $9.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.90.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The asset manager reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.98 by ($0.47). The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Voya Financial had a net margin of 7.45% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 9.25 EPS for the current year.

Voya Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 26th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Voya Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 31.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Voya Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Voya Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Voya Financial by 75.5% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 351 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Voya Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Systematic Financial Management LP bought a new stake in Voya Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Voya Financial during the second quarter valued at $48,000. 96.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Voya Financial Company Profile

Voya Financial, Inc is a U.S.-based financial services company that helps individuals, employers and institutions plan for retirement, manage investments and address employee benefits needs. Its operations are organized primarily around retirement, employee benefits and investment management.

Through its retirement business, Voya provides workplace retirement plans, including defined contribution and defined benefit solutions, as well as individual retirement products and financial-wellness resources.