Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Voya Financial, Inc. $VOYA

Key Points

• Ceredex Value Advisors LLC has acquired a new position in Voya Financial, purchasing 120,900 shares, valued at approximately $8.2 million.
• Analysts have recently boosted their price targets for Voya Financial, with Barclays setting a new target at $75 and UBS Group raising it to $90, while the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average target price of $83.70.
• Voya Financial announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 2.4%.

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 120,900 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $8,192,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned 0.13% of Voya Financial as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Voya Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in Voya Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Voya Financial by 666.4% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 889 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Voya Financial by 36.9% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 950 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in Voya Financial by 26.1% during the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VOYA. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Voya Financial from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group increased their price target on Voya Financial from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Voya Financial from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Voya Financial from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Voya Financial from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Voya Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $83.70.

Voya Financial Trading Up 0.0%

VOYA stock opened at $75.91 on Wednesday. Voya Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $52.43 and a 52-week high of $84.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $7.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.18, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.99. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $71.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.94.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The asset manager reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. Voya Financial had a return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 6.73%.Voya Financial's quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.18 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 8.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Voya Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.00%.

Voya Financial Profile

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.

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