ING Group (NYSE:ING) Receives “Equal Weight” Rating from Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of ING Group (NYSE:ING) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of ING Group in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Zacks Research raised ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded ING Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

ING Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ING opened at $25.69 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $28.44 and a 200 day moving average of $26.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market cap of $74.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.78. ING Group has a 12 month low of $16.47 and a 12 month high of $31.17.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $4.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.67 billion. ING Group had a return on equity of 12.05% and a net margin of 27.50%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that ING Group will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ING Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is Friday, April 17th. This represents a yield of 589.0%. ING Group’s dividend payout ratio is 62.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ING Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Abound Wealth Management increased its position in ING Group by 2,757.6% during the 3rd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. MidFirst Bank bought a new stake in ING Group in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership grew its stake in shares of ING Group by 197.2% in the fourth quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of ING Group by 359.9% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 4.49% of the company’s stock.

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.