Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $90.54 and last traded at $89.2550, with a volume of 804780 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $88.47.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on VOYA shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Voya Financial from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Voya Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $117.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday. Bank of America reduced their target price on Voya Financial from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Barclays increased their price target on Voya Financial from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Voya Financial from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.73.

Voya Financial Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $79.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.97. The company has a market capitalization of $8.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.92.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.24. Voya Financial had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 8.24%.The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share. Voya Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Voya Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. Voya Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Voya Financial

In other news, insider Trevor Ogle sold 3,994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $359,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $259,830. This represents a 58.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Voya Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Voya Financial by 75.5% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 351 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Voya Financial by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC now owns 32,532 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,423,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Voya Financial by 59.6% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 573 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Voya Financial by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Voya Financial by 56.9% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 612 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. 96.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.