Voya Financial Trades Above 50-Day SMA: Time to Hold VOYA Stock?

Voya Financial, Inc. VOYA has been trading above its 50-day simple moving average (SMA), signaling a short-term bullish trend. Its share price as of May 22, 2025, was $66.72, down 20.8% from its 52-week high of $84.30.The 50-day SMA is a key indicator for traders and analysts to identify support and resistance levels. It is considered particularly important as this is the first marker of an uptrend or downtrend.VOYA Price Movement vs. 50-Day Moving AverageImage Source: Zacks Investment ResearchWith a market capitalization of $6.42 billion, the average volume of shares traded in the last three months was 1.07 million. This insurer has a solid track record of beating earnings estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average being 38.39%.Attractive ValuationVOYA shares are trading at a price-to-book multiple of 1.04X, lower than the industry average of 1.9X, the Finance sector’s 4.23X and the Zacks S&P 500 Composite’s 7.87X. The insurer has a Value Score of B. Before valuation expands, it is wise to take a position in the stock.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchShares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. BHF, Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated RGA and Manulife Financial Corp MFC are also trading at a discount to the industry average.VOYA’s Growth Projection Encourages The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Voya Financial’s 2025 earnings per share indicates a year-over-year increase of 33.8%. The consensus estimate for revenues is pegged at $1.18 billion, implying a year-over-year improvement of 9.6%. The consensus estimate for 2026 earnings per share and revenues indicates an increase of 19.5% and 11.3%, respectively, from the corresponding 2025 estimates.  Earnings have grown 12.2% in the past five years, better than the industry average of 7.8%. The expected long-term earnings growth rate is 14.2%, outperforming the industry average of 12.1%. Optimistic Analyst Sentiment on VOYAFive out of the six analysts covering the stock have raised estimates for 2025 while three analysts have raised the same for 2026 over the past 30 days. Thus, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 and 2026 moved 4.8% and 2.9% north, respectively, in the last 30 days.VOYA’s Price PerformanceShares of this property and casualty insurer have lost 10% in the past year against the industry’s growth of 10.6%, the Finance sector’s return of 16.8% and the S&P 500 composite’s appreciation of 10%. VOYA vs Industry, Sector & S&P 500 in 1 YearImage Source: Zacks Investment ResearchKey Points to Note for VOYAVOYA’s earnings are driven by its solid segmental performances across Wealth Solutions, Investment Management and Health Solutions. These businesses reflect higher-growth, capital-light and higher-return units, boasting the company’s solid presence in the market.The Wealth Solutions segment is steadily witnessing significant growth on the back of continued strength in underlying business results, higher surplus income, lower credited interest, improved investment income, weaker fee-based margin, a favorable change in deferred acquisition costs and value of business acquired and lower administrative expenses. In Wealth Solutions, full-service recurring deposits should continue to gain from growth in the corporate markets. The Investment Management segment should benefit from higher investment capital returns due to its overall market performance and improved fee revenues, driven by higher average equity markets and positive net flows.VOYA is constantly taking strategic steps to ramp up growth in its Investment Management segment. Voya Financial and Allianz Global Investors inked a long-term strategic partnership that added scale and diversification to Voya Investment Management. Voya Investment Management’s adjusted operating margin is expected to increase 30-32% for 2024.The Health Solutions segment of the insurer is likely to benefit from growth across all product lines as well as favorable retention.The insurer’s capital levels remain strong. Voya Financial expects to deliver improved excess capital generation in 2025. This will be driven by Stop Loss repricing, the OneAmerica acquisition and continued profitable growth across businesses. Voya Financial expects these actions will increase excess capital generation by approximately $100 million in 2025. VOYA expects to generate approximately $750 million of excess capital in 2025 before growth investments. In 2026, Voya Financial expects a further increase in excess capital generation as we restore Stop Loss to target margins and benefit from continued profitable growth across businesses. VOYA’s Wealth DistributionOperational excellence has been helping the company deploy capital to enhance shareholders’ value. For the first quarter of 2025, the company generated approximately $200 million of excess capital, reflecting capital generation of more than 90% of after-tax adjusted operating earnings for the quarter. In the first quarter, the company returned $43 million of excess capital to shareholders through common stock dividends and retired $400 million of 3.976% Senior Notes using the proceeds from the recent debt issuance. As of March 31, 2025, the company had approximately $150 million of excess capital. ConclusionVoya Financial is well-positioned for growth on improved investment income, higher average equity markets and positive net flows, favorable retention, as well as strategic partnerships. It should continue to benefit from financial flexibility and effective capital deployment.Its solid growth projections, optimistic analyst sentiment, as well as attractive valuations are other positives. It is, therefore, wise to hold on to this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 DaysJust released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops."Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +23.0% per year. So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention. See them now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Manulife Financial Corp (MFC): Free Stock Analysis Report Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (RGA): Free Stock Analysis Report Voya Financial, Inc. (VOYA): Free Stock Analysis Report Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (BHF): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks