Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $84.00 to $88.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Voya Financial traded as high as $79.74 and last traded at $79.09, with a volume of 23818 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.51.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on VOYA. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Voya Financial from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Raymond James lowered Voya Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Voya Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Voya Financial in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Voya Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.82.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VOYA. Davis Capital Management boosted its position in Voya Financial by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Davis Capital Management now owns 19,880 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,575,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Voya Financial during the second quarter valued at about $319,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Voya Financial in the second quarter worth about $61,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Voya Financial by 114.8% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 8,494 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $604,000 after buying an additional 4,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its stake in Voya Financial by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,216 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 958 shares during the period. 96.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Voya Financial Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.72. The company has a market capitalization of $7.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The asset manager reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.13. Voya Financial had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 10.87%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Voya Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This is a positive change from Voya Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Voya Financial’s payout ratio is 25.57%.

About Voya Financial

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.