Royal Bank Of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) Stock

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada raised its Voya Financial price target to $110 from $107 and maintained an “outperform” rating, implying about 9.1% upside from the stock’s $100.84 price. Analysts overall rate the shares “Moderate Buy,” with an average target of $100.38.
• Voya’s latest quarterly results fell short of expectations: adjusted EPS was $1.51 versus the $1.98 consensus, while revenue declined 4.3% year over year to $1.88 billion.
• Voya shares have posted strong recent performance, trading near their 52-week high of $103.85, while institutional investors own approximately 96.1% of the company’s stock.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Royal Bank Of Canada from $107.00 to $110.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the asset manager's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price objective points to a potential upside of 9.08% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on VOYA. Barclays upped 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. Raymond James Financial upgraded Voya Financial from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $117.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Voya Financial from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Voya Financial from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $100.38.

Voya Financial Price Performance

Voya Financial stock traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $100.84. 637,379 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,139,960. The company has a market capitalization of $9.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $93.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.75. Voya Financial has a 1 year low of $64.50 and a 1 year high of $103.85.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The asset manager reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by ($0.47). The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. Voya Financial had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 7.45%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Voya Financial will post 9.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Voya Financial news, insider Trevor Ogle sold 3,994 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $359,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,887 shares in the company, valued at $259,830. This trade represents a 58.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Voya Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 21.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 84,715 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,741,000 after purchasing an additional 15,091 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Voya Financial by 8.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 662,058 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $44,861,000 after buying an additional 51,376 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 13.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 37,836 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,564,000 after acquiring an additional 4,490 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Voya Financial by 1.7% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 370,144 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $25,081,000 after acquiring an additional 6,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 44.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 730 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. 96.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Voya Financial

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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