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

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,993,751 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the March 15th total of 2,503,207 shares. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 943,035 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Voya Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VOYA. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 84,715 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,741,000 after buying an additional 15,091 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 662,058 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $44,861,000 after buying an additional 51,376 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 13.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 37,836 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,564,000 after buying an additional 4,490 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 370,144 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,081,000 after buying an additional 6,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 44.0% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 730 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. 96.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Voya Financial Stock Up 2.2%

NYSE VOYA traded up $1.63 on Friday, reaching $74.44. The company 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 PE ratio of 11.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.86. Voya Financial has a 1 year low of $54.48 and a 1 year high of $79.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $69.97 and a 200-day moving average of $72.48. 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 (NYSE:VOYA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The asset manager reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by ($0.17). The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Voya Financial will post 8.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VOYA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Voya Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Voya Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Voya Financial from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Voya Financial from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Voya Financial from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Six research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.89.

Voya Financial Company Profile

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.