Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $92.86 and last traded at $92.8690, with a volume of 116518 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $92.36.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on VOYA. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Voya Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $117.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, June 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Voya Financial from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Voya Financial from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Voya Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.73.

Voya Financial Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $8.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $82.89 and its 200-day moving average is $76.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.24. Voya Financial had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. Voya Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Voya Financial news, insider Trevor Ogle sold 3,994 shares of Voya Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $359,460.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 2,887 shares in the company, valued at $259,830. The trade was a 58.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Voya Financial

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VOYA. Redwood Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Voya Financial in the first quarter worth about $1,048,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in Voya Financial by 811.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 44,983 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,073,000 after purchasing an additional 40,046 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 24.8% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 113,207 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,734,000 after purchasing an additional 22,484 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 48,204 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,293,000 after purchasing an additional 5,458 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 237,550 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $16,229,000 after buying an additional 15,186 shares in the last quarter. 96.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.