ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) Short Interest Up 106.3% in May

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,178,949 shares, a growth of 106.3% from the April 30th total of 1,541,114 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,296,985 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

ING Group Price Performance

Shares of ING traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $30.85. The stock had a trading volume of 1,984,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,840,442. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.77 billion, a PE ratio of 12.19, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.84. 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’s 50-day moving average is $28.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.03. ING Group has a 12 month low of $20.39 and a 12 month high of $31.40.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.03. ING Group had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 27.68%.The firm had revenue of $616.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.86 billion. Research analysts expect that ING Group will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ING Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ING. MidFirst Bank purchased a new position in shares of ING Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership raised its stake in ING Group by 197.2% in the 4th quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the period. Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in ING Group during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Binnacle Investments Inc lifted its holdings in ING Group by 57.0% during the third 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. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in 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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 4.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ING has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of ING Group in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised ING Group from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered ING Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

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.