ING Group (NYSE:ING) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of ING Group (NYSE:ING) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on ING. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of ING Group in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup raised shares of ING Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

ING Group Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:ING opened at $30.61 on Monday. ING Group has a 1 year low of $16.22 and a 1 year high of $31.18. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.08 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 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 results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $4.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.67 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that ING Group will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

ING Group Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ING Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Fund Management S.A. boosted its position in ING Group by 14.7% during the second quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. now owns 612,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,396,000 after purchasing an additional 78,622 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of ING Group by 64.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 467,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,233,000 after buying an additional 183,891 shares during the last quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of ING Group by 11.0% during the second quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 220,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,829,000 after buying an additional 21,853 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of ING Group by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,314,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,753,000 after buying an additional 264,858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of ING Group by 45.5% in the 2nd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 279,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,116,000 after buying an additional 87,464 shares during the last quarter. 4.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ING Group Company Profile

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.