ING Group (NYSE:ING) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ING Group (NYSE:ING) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on ING. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Zacks Research raised shares of ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on ING Group in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upgraded ING Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ING Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

ING Group Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE ING opened at $28.31 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $28.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.21. The company has a market capitalization of $82.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.80. ING Group has a 1 year low of $16.47 and a 1 year high of $31.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $4.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.67 billion. ING Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 27.50%. On average, analysts forecast that ING Group will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ING Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.8796 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 17th. This represents a dividend yield of 589.0%. ING Group’s dividend payout ratio is 62.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ING Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Amundi acquired a new stake in ING Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $760,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of ING Group by 27.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 87,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,709,000 after purchasing an additional 18,562 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ING Group by 5.4% during 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 during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in ING Group by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 2,745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in ING Group by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 3,499 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.