ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of ING Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ING Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ING. Binnacle Investments Inc lifted its stake in ING Group by 57.0% in the 3rd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 1,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ING Group by 0.6% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 63,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,659,000 after buying an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ING Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ING Group by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ING Group by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $149,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. 4.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ING Group Trading Up 1.4%

ING opened at $29.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99. ING Group has a twelve month low of $16.04 and a twelve month high of $29.21. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.55.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.06. ING Group had a net margin of 26.94% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The company had revenue of $6.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.35 billion. Analysts predict that ING Group will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ING Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 8th were issued a $0.2009 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 8th. This represents a dividend yield of 71.0%. ING Group’s dividend payout ratio is 31.08%.

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.