Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $84.30.

VOYA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Voya Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Voya Financial from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on Voya Financial from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Voya Financial from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Voya Financial from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th.

Voya Financial Price Performance

VOYA stock opened at $69.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.99, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.91. Voya Financial has a twelve month low of $52.43 and a twelve month high of $83.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The asset manager reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.23. Voya Financial had a net margin of 7.55% and a return on equity of 13.89%. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Voya Financial will post 8.39 EPS for the current year.

Voya Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.47 dividend. This is a boost from Voya Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Voya Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Voya Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VOYA. Boston Partners increased its position in Voya Financial by 70.4% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,373,520 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $239,175,000 after purchasing an additional 1,394,321 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Voya Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $97,876,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Voya Financial by 119.6% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,085,387 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $148,062,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,935 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Voya Financial by 23.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,679,580 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $384,849,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Voya Financial by 17.7% in the third 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.10% of the company’s stock.

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.