ING Group (NYSE:ING) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $27.78 and last traded at $27.7850, with a volume of 330645 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $27.41.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ING has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup raised shares of ING Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of ING Group in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised ING Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Cfra Research raised ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

ING Group Stock Up 0.7%

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $25.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $87.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.81.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.06. ING Group had a net margin of 26.94% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The firm had revenue of $6.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.35 billion. On average, research analysts predict that ING Group, N.V. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ING Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ING. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new position in shares of ING Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,062,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in ING Group by 249.9% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,047,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462,527 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of ING Group by 197.6% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,667,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,661,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,926 shares in the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA grew its stake in shares of ING Group by 280.3% in the 3rd quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 900,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,496,000 after buying an additional 664,063 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in ING Group by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,764,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $191,681,000 after buying an additional 593,424 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 4.49% of the company’s stock.

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.