ING Group (NYSE:ING) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $32.22 and last traded at $32.1720, with a volume of 4418265 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.36.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of ING Group in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of ING Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of ING Group from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of ING Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

ING Group Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $29.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.26, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.03. ING Group had a net margin of 27.68% and a return on equity of 12.27%. The company had revenue of $616.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.86 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that ING Group, N.V. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MidFirst Bank purchased a new position in shares of ING Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership grew its stake in ING Group by 197.2% in the fourth quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the period. Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new position in ING Group in the first quarter worth $28,000. Binnacle Investments Inc boosted its holdings in shares of ING Group by 57.0% during the 3rd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 1,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of ING Group by 359.9% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 871 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.