Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 843,134 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 24% from the previous session’s volume of 1,104,739 shares.The stock last traded at $102.9580 and had previously closed at $102.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on VOYA shares. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Voya Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $117.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Voya Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Voya Financial from $109.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 price target on shares of Voya Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Voya Financial from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Voya Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.85.

Voya Financial Stock Up 0.6%

The stock has a market cap of $9.31 billion, a PE ratio of 17.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $99.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.28.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The asset manager reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.98 by ($0.47). The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Voya Financial had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 7.45%.The company’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 9.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be given a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 26th. Voya Financial’s payout ratio is presently 31.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Voya Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VOYA. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Voya Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $1,010,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 6.8% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 237,550 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $16,229,000 after acquiring an additional 15,186 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Voya Financial in the second quarter worth about $850,187,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Voya Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,045,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Voya Financial by 4,892.7% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 63,058 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,308,000 after acquiring an additional 61,795 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.