ING Group, N.V. (ING) – What Are Researchers Thinking About This Stock?

Shares of ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $34.50.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ING shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of ING Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of ING Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of ING Group in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of ING Group in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of ING Group in a research note on Friday, August 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MidFirst Bank bought a new stake in shares of ING Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ING Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of ING Group by 1,645.5% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 2,112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 1,991 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of ING Group in the second quarter valued at $93,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in ING Group by 411.2% during the first quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 2,533 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 4.49% of the company’s stock.

ING Group Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of ING Group stock opened at $33.35 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.87. ING Group has a twelve month low of $23.64 and a twelve month high of $37.52.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.04. ING Group had a return on equity of 12.59% and a net margin of 28.15%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.99 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that ING Group will post 2.80 earnings per share for the current year.

ING Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.4580 per share. This is a drop from ING Group’s previous dividend of $0.8796. This represents a dividend yield of 260.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. ING Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.10%.

About ING Group

ING Group N.V. is a Netherlands-based international banking and financial services company headquartered in Amsterdam. Through its banking operations, ING provides services to individuals, businesses and institutions, including current and savings accounts, consumer and residential lending, commercial loans, payments, investment products and other financial solutions.

ING serves customers across Europe and has a presence in selected markets in Asia and the Americas. Its retail banking business emphasizes digital platforms and mobile banking, while its wholesale banking division provides corporate and institutional clients with lending, financial markets, transaction services and other banking solutions.

The modern ING Group was formed in 1991 through the merger of Nationale-Nederlanden, an insurer, and NMB Postbank, a banking group.