Contrasting Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) & Solana (NASDAQ:HSDT)

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) and Solana (NASDAQ:HSDT) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends and earnings.

Volatility & Risk

Voya Financial has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Solana has a beta of 1.06, indicating that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

96.1% of Voya Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 18.6% of Solana shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Voya Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 14.4% of Solana shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Voya Financial and Solana”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Voya Financial	$8.19 billion	1.13	$654.00 million	$5.93	17.21
Solana	$6.02 million	22.10	-$40.89 million	($30.32)	-0.07

Voya Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Solana. Solana is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Voya Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Voya Financial and Solana’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Voya Financial	7.45%	12.31%	0.46%
Solana	-1,302.78%	-41.86%	-18.53%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Voya Financial and Solana, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Voya Financial	1	3	8	1	2.69
Solana	1	1	3	0	2.40

Voya Financial currently has a consensus target price of $103.85, suggesting a potential upside of 1.73%. Solana has a consensus target price of $3.75, suggesting a potential upside of 70.45%. Given Solana’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Solana is more favorable than Voya Financial.

Summary

Voya Financial beats Solana on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Voya Financial

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. The segment also provides wealth management services, such as individual retirement, managed, and brokerage accounts, as well as financial guidance and advisory services. This segment serves corporate, public and private school systems, higher education institutions, hospitals and healthcare facilities, other non-profit organizations, and state and local governments, as well as institutional and individual customers. The Health Solutions segment offers various insurance products comprising stop loss, group life, group disability, whole life, critical illness, accident, and hospital indemnity insurance. The segment also provides worksite employee benefits, health account solutions, leave management, benefits administration, health plan enrollment, financial wellness, and decision support products and services to mid-size and large corporate employers and professional associations. The Investment Management segment provides fixed income, equity, multi-asset, and alternative products and solutions to individual investors and institutional clients through its direct sales force, consultant channel, banks, broker-dealers, and independent financial advisers. The company was formerly known as ING U.S., Inc. and changed its name to Voya Financial, Inc. in April 2014. Voya Financial, Inc. was founded in 1975 and is based in New York, New York.

About Solana

Helius Medical Technologies, Inc., a neurotechnology company, focuses on developing, licensing, and acquiring non-implantable technologies for the treatment of symptoms caused by neurological disease or trauma. The company's product is Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator, a non-surgical medical device intended for use as a short term treatment of gait deficit due to symptoms from multiple sclerosis and balance deficit due to mild-to-moderate traumatic brain injury, as well as to be used in conjunction with supervised therapeutic exercise. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Newtown, Pennsylvania.