ING Group (NYSE:ING) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

ING Group (NYSE:ING) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on ING Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup raised ING Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

ING Group Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE:ING opened at $30.95 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99. ING Group has a 1-year low of $16.22 and a 1-year high of $31.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.95, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $28.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.86.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $4.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.67 billion. ING Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 27.50%. On average, equities analysts expect that ING Group will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ING Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in ING Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc lifted its position in shares of ING Group by 57.0% in the third quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 1,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in ING Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $440,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in ING Group by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 18,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 4.49% of the company’s stock.

ING Group Company Profile

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.