Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA)

Key Points

• Voya Financial saw unusually heavy call-option activity, with traders purchasing 5,005 calls—464% above the average daily volume of 887 contracts.
• Shares rose to $103, near the 52-week high of $105.64, despite the company’s latest quarterly results missing analyst expectations: adjusted EPS was $1.51 versus $1.98 expected, while revenue declined 4.3% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $103.85; Voya also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.47 per share, yielding about 1.8% annually.

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders bought 5,005 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 464% compared to the average daily volume of 887 call options.

Voya Financial Stock Performance

Voya Financial stock traded up $0.89 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $103.00. The company had a trading volume of 927,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,105,630. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $9.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $99.64 and a 200-day moving average of $85.28. Voya Financial has a 52 week low of $64.50 and a 52 week high of $105.64.

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). Voya Financial had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 7.45%.The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Voya Financial will post 9.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be given a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 26th. Voya Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VOYA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Voya Financial from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered Voya Financial from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Voya Financial from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on Voya Financial from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Voya Financial from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $117.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, June 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Voya Financial has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $103.85.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Voya Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Voya Financial by 8,471.7% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 9,703,820 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $878,487,000 after purchasing an additional 9,590,613 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Voya Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $850,187,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Voya Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $520,280,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,492,908 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $334,677,000 after purchasing an additional 230,877 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,673,118 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $250,947,000 after purchasing an additional 46,906 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.10% of the company's stock.

Voya Financial Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.