A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Voya Financial (VOYA Quick QuoteVOYA - Free Report) . Shares have added about 4.5% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500.

Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Voya due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts.

Voya Financial Q1 Earnings Surpass, Premiums Rise Y/Y

Voya Financial, Inc. reported first-quarter 2024 adjusted operating earnings of $1.88 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 18.9%. The bottom line, however, increased 11.2% year over year.

The quarterly results reflected an improvement in premiums and solid performances across most of the segments, offset by lower investment income and higher expenses.

Behind the Headlines

Adjusted operating revenues amounted to $1.9 billion, up 8.9% year over year, driven by higher fee income, premiums and other revenues. Net investment income declined 2.9% year over year to $529 million. Meanwhile, fee income of $513 million increased 10.5% year over year.

Premiums totaled $800 million, up 16.8% from the year-ago quarter. Total benefits and expenses were $1.7 billion, up 4.1% from the year-ago quarter.
As of Mar 31, 2024, VOYA’s assets under management, assets under administration and advisement totaled $848.6 billion.

Segmental Update

Wealth Solutions reported pre-tax adjusted operating earnings of $186 million, which jumped 41% year over year, primarily due to favorable equity market impacts to fee-based revenues, higher alternative investment income and lower administrative expenses. It was partially offset by lower spread-based revenues. Full-service recurring deposits grew 7.6% to $4.2 billion, driven by a rise in both Corporate and Tax-Exempt markets.

Health Solutions’ pre-tax adjusted operating earnings amounted to $59 94 million, which plunged 37.2% year over year, primarily due to Stop Loss net underwriting gains normalizing after favorable results in the prior-year period. Annualized in-force premiums and fees grew 17% to $3.9 billion. The strong increase reflects growth across all product lines due to strong sales and favorable retention.

Investment Management posted pre-tax adjusted operating earnings of $42 million, which climbed 27.3% year over year, primarily due to higher net revenues reflecting the benefit of positive capital markets, strong sales in Retail and insurance, as well as lower administrative expenses. Net inflows were $0.6 billion during the three months ended Mar 31, 2024, driven by Retail flows and the insurance channel within Institutional.

Corporate incurred a pre-tax adjusted operating loss, excluding Allianz's noncontrolling interest, of $63 million, narrower than the year-ago quarter’s loss of $68 million. The improvement was largely attributable to lower interest expenses due to debt extinguishment.

Financial Update

Voya Financial exited the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $995 million, which jumped 37.4% year over year. Total investments amounted to $35.7 billion, down 7.8% year over year.

Long-term debt as of Mar 31, 2024, plunged 18.6% to $1.7 billion from the 2023-end level. The financial leverage ratio (excluding Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income) deteriorated 30 basis points year over year to 28.1%.

As of Mar 31, 2024, book value per share (excluding AOCI) was $59.33, which decreased 1% year over year. Voya Financial exited the first quarter with more than $0.2 billion in excess capital.

Capital Deployment

As of Mar 31, 2024, VOYA had $225 million remaining under its share-repurchase authorization. In addition to this, the board has increased the company's authorization to repurchase shares under the company's share repurchase program by $500 million.

How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?

It turns out, estimates review flatlined during the past month.

VGM Scores

At this time, Voya has a poor Growth Score of F, however its Momentum Score is doing a lot better with a B. Following the exact same course, the stock was allocated a grade of B on the value side, putting it in the top 40% for this investment strategy.

Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of C. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.

Outlook

Voya has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months.