Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) Sets New 1-Year High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Shares of Voya Financial reached a new 52-week high of $80.76 during mid-day trading and last traded around $78.87 on volume of about 4.27 million shares.
• Several analysts trimmed price targets (e.g., Morgan Stanley to $86, UBS to $87, Barclays to $87), but the consensus remains a Moderate Buy with an average target of $85.50.
• Voya missed EPS estimates with $1.94 reported versus $2.11 expected while revenue of $2.01 billion beat estimates and was up 5% year-over-year; the company also pays a $0.47 quarterly dividend (annualized $1.88, ~2.4% yield).

Shares of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $80.76 and last traded at $78.8670, with a volume of 4267627 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $75.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on VOYA shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Voya Financial from $93.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on Voya Financial from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Voya Financial from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Voya Financial from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Voya Financial from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $85.50.

Voya Financial Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.01 and a 200 day moving average of $72.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $7.28 billion, a PE ratio of 12.54, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.86.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.99 billion. Voya Financial had a return on equity of 13.96% and a net margin of 7.99%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th were issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Voya Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.89%.

Institutional Trading of Voya Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VOYA. Verdad Advisers LP bought a new position in Voya Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $148,980,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Voya Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $83,106,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Voya Financial by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,516,879 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $487,463,000 after acquiring an additional 977,870 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 135.7% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,084,747 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $81,139,000 after purchasing an additional 624,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 63.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,431,835 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $107,101,000 after purchasing an additional 553,675 shares in the last quarter. 96.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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.