Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Makes New Investment in Voya Financial, Inc. $VOYA

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 116,511 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $10,548,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned approximately 0.13% of Voya Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Voya Financial by 75.5% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 351 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Voya Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Voya Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Systematic Financial Management LP bought a new position in Voya Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Voya Financial by 59.6% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 573 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Trevor Ogle sold 3,994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $359,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $259,830. This represents a 58.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on VOYA shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Voya Financial from $109.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Voya Financial from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Atlantic Securities set a $79.00 price target on Voya Financial in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Voya Financial from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Voya Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $117.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, June 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.85.

Voya Financial Price Performance

Shares of VOYA stock opened at $101.62 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $97.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. Voya Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.50 and a 52-week high of $103.85. The stock has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.89.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last issued 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 the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Voya Financial had a net margin of 7.45% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 9.25 EPS for the current year.

Voya Financial Announces Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, August 26th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Voya Financial’s payout ratio is 31.70%.

Voya Financial Profile

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.