Meritage Portfolio Management Purchases 401 Shares of Voya Financial, Inc. $VOYA

Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its position in shares of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,431 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Voya Financial were worth $1,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VOYA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 23.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,679,580 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $384,849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095,190 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Voya Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,022,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,512,176 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $373,505,000 after purchasing an additional 280,316 shares during the period. Algebris UK Ltd grew its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 250.0% in the 1st quarter. Algebris UK Ltd now owns 354,351 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $22,206,000 after purchasing an additional 253,100 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Voya Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $16,683,000. 96.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Voya Financial Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of VOYA opened at $72.66 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28. Voya Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $52.43 and a one year high of $84.30. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.09.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The asset manager reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.31. Voya Financial had a return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 6.73%.The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 8.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Voya Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VOYA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Voya Financial from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Voya Financial from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on Voya Financial from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Voya Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Voya Financial from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.00.

Voya Financial 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.