ING Group (NYSE:ING) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of ING Group (NYSE:ING) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of ING Group in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of ING Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded ING Group from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

ING Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ING opened at $29.56 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $27.64 and its 200 day moving average is $27.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $86.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.80. ING Group has a fifty-two week low of $18.36 and a fifty-two week high of $31.17.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.67 billion. ING Group had a net margin of 27.50% and a return on equity of 12.05%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ING Group will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

ING Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.8796 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 17th. This represents a dividend yield of 589.0%. ING Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.10%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ING Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ING. Amundi purchased a new position in shares of ING Group during the first quarter worth about $760,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ING Group by 27.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 87,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,709,000 after purchasing an additional 18,562 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of ING Group by 5.4% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 21,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of ING Group by 19.5% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 2,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of ING Group by 28.9% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 47,534 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,040,000 after purchasing an additional 10,650 shares in the last quarter. 4.49% of the stock is currently owned by 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.