Legal & General Group Plc Purchases New Shares in Voya Financial, Inc. $VOYA

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc acquired 119,106 Voya Financial shares worth approximately $10.8 million in the second quarter, representing about 0.13% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 96.10% of Voya’s stock.
• Voya Financial reported quarterly EPS of $1.51, missing the $1.98 consensus estimate, while revenue declined 4.3% year over year to $1.88 billion. Analysts project full-year EPS of $9.25.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.47 per share, equivalent to an annualized $1.88 payout and a 1.9% yield. Analyst sentiment remains a “Moderate Buy,” with a consensus price target of $103.85.

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 119,106 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $10,783,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.13% of Voya Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Voya Financial in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Voya Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Systematic Financial Management LP purchased a new stake in Voya Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Voya Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.10% of the company's stock.

Voya Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:VOYA opened at $101.37 on Tuesday. Voya Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.50 and a fifty-two week high of $103.85. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $97.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.09, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.89. 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 (NYSE:VOYA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The asset manager reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.98 by ($0.47). The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during 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%. Voya Financial's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 9.25 EPS for the current year.

Voya Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be given a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 26th. Voya Financial's payout ratio is currently 31.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Voya Financial news, insider Trevor Ogle sold 3,994 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 2,887 shares in the company, valued at $259,830. This represents a 58.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VOYA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $111.00 price objective on shares of Voya Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Voya Financial from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $117.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, June 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $103.85.

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.

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