Strs Ohio Takes Position in Voya Financial, Inc. $VOYA

Key Points

• Strs Ohio acquired 29,121 shares of Voya Financial valued at approximately $1,973,000 in the 1st quarter, reflecting growing institutional interest in the asset manager.
• Voya Financial reported $2.40 earnings per share for the last quarter, beating analysts' expectations, although its revenue was down 2.6% year-over-year at $1.98 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, representing an annualized payout of $1.80 and a yield of 2.3%, with a payout ratio of 36.00%.

Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 29,121 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,973,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Voya Financial by 142.9% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,343 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Voya Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $250,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Voya Financial by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 221,385 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $15,001,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in Voya Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $894,000. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Voya Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $385,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VOYA has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Voya Financial from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Voya Financial from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Voya Financial from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $83.70.

Voya Financial Price Performance

Shares of VOYA traded down $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $76.59. 1,063,795 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 791,922. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $7.38 billion, a PE ratio of 15.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.00. Voya Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.43 and a fifty-two week high of $84.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.39.

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

Voya Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. 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.