ING Groep (NYSE:ING) Increases Dividend to $0.45 Per Share

ING Groep (NYSE:ING – Get Rating) declared a semi-annual dividend on Friday, March 25th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 28th will be given a dividend of 0.4525 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, May 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 8.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 27th. This is a boost from ING Groep’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.12.

ING Groep has a dividend payout ratio of 63.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect ING Groep to earn $1.47 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.91 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 61.9%.

NYSE ING opened at $10.26 on Monday. ING Groep has a 52 week low of $8.97 and a 52 week high of $15.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.37. The firm has a market cap of $40.02 billion, a PE ratio of 6.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.85.

ING Groep (NYSE:ING – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 3rd. The financial services provider reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.03). ING Groep had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 25.83%. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.94 billion. Research analysts expect that ING Groep will post 1.02 EPS for the current year.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on ING Groep from €14.40 ($15.48) to €15.30 ($16.45) in a report on Wednesday, April 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of ING Groep from €15.00 ($16.13) to €14.50 ($15.59) in a report on Friday, February 4th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of ING Groep in a report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of ING Groep from €15.00 ($16.13) to €13.00 ($13.98) and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of ING Groep from €15.60 ($16.77) to €13.00 ($13.98) in a report on Thursday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.68.

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its stake in ING Groep by 913.1% during the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 147,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,060,000 after purchasing an additional 133,350 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in ING Groep by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 79,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 10,872 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in ING Groep by 248.3% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 60,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $842,000 after purchasing an additional 43,113 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. purchased a new stake in ING Groep during the fourth quarter worth about $612,000. Finally, Strategic Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in ING Groep by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 39,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 3.78% of the company’s stock.

ING Groep Company Profile (Get Rating)

ING Groep N.V., a financial institution, provides various banking products and services in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Rest of Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, and Australia. It operates in six segments: Retail Netherlands, Retail Belgium, Retail Germany, Retail Other, Wholesale Banking, and Corporate Line Banking.

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