ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the six research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company.

ING has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised ING Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley upgraded ING Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Cfra Research upgraded ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut ING Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

ING Group Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of ING Group stock opened at $24.01 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.19. ING Group has a 52-week low of $15.09 and a 52-week high of $26.27. The firm has a market cap of $75.56 billion, a PE ratio of 11.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. ING Group had a return on equity of 11.62% and a net margin of 27.28%.The business had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.40 billion. On average, analysts predict that ING Group will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ING Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.4002 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 450.0%. ING Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ING Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of ING Group by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of ING Group by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of ING Group by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $265,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of ING Group by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 12,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ING Group by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 17,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 4.49% of the company’s stock.

ING Group Company Profile

ING Groep N.V. provides various banking products and services in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, rest of Europe, and internationally. It operates through five segments: Retail Netherlands, Retail Belgium, Retail Germany, Retail Other, and Wholesale Banking. The company accepts current and savings accounts.