ING Groep (NYSE:ING) Shares Purchased by First Affirmative Financial Network

First Affirmative Financial Network boosted its holdings in ING Groep (NYSE:ING) by 15.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 18,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,471 shares during the quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in ING Groep were worth $354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in ING Groep in the fourth quarter worth $14,375,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in ING Groep by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 92,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,442,000 after acquiring an additional 14,476 shares in the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in ING Groep in the fourth quarter worth $10,129,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in ING Groep by 97.4% in the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 51,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $814,000 after acquiring an additional 25,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in ING Groep by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,946,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,844,000 after acquiring an additional 31,963 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 4.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Cfra Research upgraded ING Groep from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded ING Groep from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

ING Groep Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of ING stock opened at $21.21 on Friday. ING Groep has a fifty-two week low of $15.09 and a fifty-two week high of $21.76. The stock has a market cap of $74.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.91, a P/E/G ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

ING Groep (NYSE:ING) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.07). ING Groep had a net margin of 28.30% and a return on equity of 11.81%. The firm had revenue of $6.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.74 billion. On average, analysts forecast that ING Groep will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ING Groep Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th were given a $0.6526 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. This represents a dividend yield of 5.1%. This is a boost from ING Groep’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.17. ING Groep’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.45%.

ING Groep Company Profile

ING Groep N.V. provides various banking products and services in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, rest of Europe, and internationally. It operates through five segments: Retail Netherlands, Retail Belgium, Retail Germany, Retail Other, and Wholesale Banking. The company accepts current and savings accounts.