Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Acquires 1,095,190 Shares of Voya Financial, Inc. $VOYA

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Voya Financial, Inc. by 23.9%, now holding 5,679,580 shares valued at approximately $384.8 million.
• Research analysts have raised their target prices for Voya Financial, with ratings suggesting a consensus of "Hold" and an average target price of $83.70.
• Voya Financial announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45, expected to yield 2.4% annually, with a payout ratio of 36%.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA - Free Report) by 23.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,679,580 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 1,095,190 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 5.90% of Voya Financial worth $384,849,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Voya Financial by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,512,176 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $373,505,000 after acquiring an additional 280,316 shares during the period. Kelly Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Voya Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $270,680,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in Voya Financial by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,599,164 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $243,879,000 after acquiring an additional 32,061 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Voya Financial by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,369,510 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $160,552,000 after acquiring an additional 163,211 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Voya Financial by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,335,463 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $91,920,000 after acquiring an additional 168,777 shares during the period. 96.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Voya Financial Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Voya Financial stock traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $75.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 130,058 shares, compared to its average volume of 924,453. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Voya Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.43 and a 1-year high of $84.30.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The asset manager reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.31. The business 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 revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.18 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 8.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Voya Financial Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VOYA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Voya Financial from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Barclays lifted their price target on Voya Financial from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Voya Financial from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Voya Financial from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Voya Financial from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $83.70.

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.