Short Interest in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) Rises By 30.7%

Key Points

• Short interest in Voya Financial increased by 30.7% in August, reaching a total of 2,130,000 shares, marking a notable rise from the previous month.
• Institutional investors hold approximately 96.10% of Voya Financial's stock, with Bessemer Group Inc. significantly increasing their stake by 142.9% in the first quarter.
• Voya Financial declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, yielding 2.4%, and will be payable on September 26th, with an ex-dividend date set for August 26th.

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,130,000 shares, agrowthof30.7% from the July 31st total of 1,630,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 816,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently,2.2% of the company's shares are short sold. Currently,2.2% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 816,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Voya Financial

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VOYA shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Voya Financial from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Voya Financial from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. 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. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $83.70.

Voya Financial Stock Down 1.0%

VOYA stock opened at $75.73 on Tuesday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $73.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.01. The company has a market cap of $7.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.00. Voya Financial has a twelve month low of $52.43 and a twelve month 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. Voya Financial had a return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 6.73%.The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.18 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Voya Financial will post 8.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. Voya Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.00%.

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.

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