Sciencast Management LP Makes New Investment in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA)

Sciencast Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 9,531 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $656,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VOYA. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its position in Voya Financial by 277.8% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,898,785 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $199,062,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,578 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Voya Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $67,214,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Voya Financial by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,472,277 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $445,487,000 after acquiring an additional 876,399 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Voya Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,155,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in Voya Financial by 25.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,884,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $228,474,000 after acquiring an additional 592,523 shares during the last quarter. 96.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VOYA shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $94.00 to $89.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $83.00 price target (down from $91.00) on shares of Voya Financial in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Voya Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $76.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $90.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $91.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.55.

Voya Financial Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of VOYA opened at $67.77 on Friday. Voya Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $64.10 and a one year high of $84.30. The company has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.50.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by ($0.65). Voya Financial had a return on equity of 14.10% and a net margin of 8.29%. Research analysts forecast that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 8.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Voya Financial’s payout ratio is presently 29.41%.

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.