ING Group (NYSE:ING) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

ING Group (NYSE:ING) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on ING. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised ING Group from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of ING Group in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a report on Friday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

ING Group Price Performance

ING stock opened at $33.31 on Tuesday. ING Group has a 12 month low of $22.40 and a 12 month high of $33.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $30.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.13. The stock has a market cap of $96.93 billion, a PE ratio of 13.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.85.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $616.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.86 billion. ING Group had a net margin of 27.68% and a return on equity of 12.27%. Equities research analysts anticipate that ING Group will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ING Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ING. Amundi bought a new stake in shares of ING Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $760,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ING Group by 27.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 87,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,709,000 after purchasing an additional 18,562 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in ING Group by 5.4% in 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 stake in ING Group by 19.5% in 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. increased its holdings in ING Group by 28.9% during the 2nd 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 during the period. 4.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.