Bank of America Reaffirms Underperform Rating for Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA)

Bank of America reiterated their underperform rating on shares of Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $71.00 price target on the asset manager’s stock, down from their previous price target of $79.00.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on VOYA. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Voya Financial from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Voya Financial from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $91.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Voya Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.45.

Voya Financial Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of Voya Financial stock opened at $67.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Voya Financial has a 12-month low of $64.10 and a 12-month high of $84.30. The company has a market cap of $6.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.00, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.45.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) 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 anticipate that Voya Financial will post 8.39 EPS for the current year.

Voya Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Voya Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Voya Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VOYA. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 15.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 876,399 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Voya Financial by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,185,726 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $219,274,000 after buying an additional 301,682 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its stake in Voya Financial by 277.8% during the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,898,785 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $199,062,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,578 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,685,642 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $116,058,000 after acquiring an additional 23,818 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 52.9% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,437,597 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,950,000 after acquiring an additional 497,348 shares during the period. 96.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.