ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised shares of ING Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Cfra Research raised shares of ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of ING Group in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of ING Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd.

ING Group Price Performance

ING opened at $24.52 on Friday. ING Group has a one year low of $15.09 and a one year high of $26.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.07.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. ING Group had a net margin of 27.28% and a return on equity of 11.62%. The business had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.40 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ING Group will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ING Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.4002 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 450.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. ING Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.80%.

Institutional Trading of ING Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ING Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of ING Group by 135.3% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 912 shares during the period. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ING Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ING Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Maseco LLP acquired a new stake in shares of ING Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 4.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ING Group

ING Groep N.V. provides various banking products and services in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, rest of Europe, and internationally. It operates through five segments: Retail Netherlands, Retail Belgium, Retail Germany, Retail Other, and Wholesale Banking. The company accepts current and savings accounts.