ING Group (NYSE:ING) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as high as $30.70 and last traded at $30.2850, with a volume of 2386060 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $29.39.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Citigroup raised shares of ING Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of ING Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ING Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in ING Group by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,764,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $191,681,000 after acquiring an additional 593,424 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of ING Group by 1.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,456,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,223,000 after acquiring an additional 73,959 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ING Group by 1.0% during the third quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 2,795,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,904,000 after purchasing an additional 26,639 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in ING Group by 249.9% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,047,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462,527 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in ING Group by 4.3% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,990,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,918,000 after purchasing an additional 82,340 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 4.49% of the company’s stock.

ING Group Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.81. The company has a market capitalization of $88.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. ING Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 27.50%.The business had revenue of $4.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.67 billion. On average, research analysts predict that ING Group, N.V. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

ING Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 17th will be issued a $0.8796 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 17th. This represents a yield of 589.0%. ING Group’s payout ratio is presently 28.87%.

About ING Group

ING Group N.V. is a Dutch multinational financial services company headquartered in Amsterdam. Formed through the consolidation of Dutch financial businesses, ING operates as a banking and financial services group that serves retail, small and medium-sized enterprises, large corporates and institutional clients. The company is organized under a two-tier governance model common in the Netherlands, with an Executive Board responsible for day-to-day management and a Supervisory Board providing oversight.

ING’s principal activities include retail and direct banking, commercial and wholesale banking, corporate lending, transaction services and cash management, and a range of investment and savings products.