Wall Street Zen Upgrades ING Group (NYSE:ING) to Buy

ING Group (NYSE:ING) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

ING has been the subject of a number of other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup upgraded ING Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on ING Group in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

ING Group Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of ING opened at $28.31 on Friday. ING Group has a twelve month low of $16.47 and a twelve month high of $31.17. The stock has a market cap of $82.38 billion, a PE ratio of 11.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $28.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.19.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $4.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.67 billion. ING Group had a net margin of 27.50% and a return on equity of 12.26%. On average, equities analysts forecast that ING Group will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of ING Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ING. Abound Wealth Management raised its position in ING Group by 2,757.6% in the 3rd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership grew its stake in shares of ING Group by 197.2% during the fourth quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc increased its holdings in shares of ING Group by 57.0% in the third quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 1,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of ING Group by 359.9% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 871 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in shares of ING Group by 2,440.8% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 4.49% of the company’s stock.

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.