Handelsbanken Fonder AB Decreases Holdings in Voya Financial, Inc. $VOYA

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its holdings in shares of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 24,800 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 900 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Voya Financial were worth $1,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VOYA. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in Voya Financial by 3.5% in the second quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 61,119 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,339,000 after purchasing an additional 2,058 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Voya Financial by 44.6% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 9,055 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $643,000 after buying an additional 2,791 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 24,741 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after buying an additional 1,741 shares in the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its position in shares of Voya Financial by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 37,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,642,000 after buying an additional 1,374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC grew its position in shares of Voya Financial by 27.7% in the 2nd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 172,368 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,238,000 after buying an additional 37,404 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.10% of the company’s stock.

Voya Financial Stock Performance

Shares of VOYA stock opened at $70.63 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.89. The company has a market cap of $6.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.99. Voya Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.43 and a 12-month high of $83.58.

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

Voya Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from Voya Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Voya Financial’s payout ratio is 30.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VOYA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Voya Financial from $83.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Voya Financial from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Voya Financial from $87.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Wall Street Zen cut Voya Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.30.

Voya Financial Company Profile

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.