Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) Short Interest Up 19.6% in March

Key Points

• Short interest rose 19.6% in March, totaling 2,993,751 shares (about 3.3% of shares) with a short-interest ratio of 3.2 days, signaling increased bearish positioning.
• Multiple analysts have trimmed price targets recently, yet the stock maintains an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $83.89 (mixed buy/hold/sell coverage).
• Voya's most recent quarter showed EPS of $1.94, missing estimates by $0.17, while revenue rose 5%; the company pays a $0.47 quarterly dividend (about a 2.5% yield).

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,993,751 shares, a growth of 19.6% from the March 15th total of 2,503,207 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 943,035 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VOYA. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Voya Financial from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Voya Financial from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Voya Financial from $93.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $83.89.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 151,462 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $11,329,000 after purchasing an additional 26,346 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Voya Financial by 3.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,662,301 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $199,140,000 after purchasing an additional 88,151 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Voya Financial by 1.8% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,431,802 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $181,901,000 after purchasing an additional 43,513 shares in the last quarter. Cadence Bank increased its holdings in Voya Financial by 59.9% in the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 49,299 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,688,000 after buying an additional 18,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its holdings in Voya Financial by 148.5% in the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 151,883 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $11,361,000 after buying an additional 90,764 shares during the last quarter. 96.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Voya Financial Trading Up 2.2%

NYSE VOYA traded up $1.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $74.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,451,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 963,873. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Voya Financial has a 52-week low of $54.48 and a 52-week high of $79.99. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $69.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.48.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The asset manager reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.17). Voya Financial had a return on equity of 13.96% and a net margin of 7.99%.The business had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. Voya Financial's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Voya Financial will post 8.39 EPS for the current year.

Voya Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. Voya Financial's dividend payout ratio is 29.89%.

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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