Short Interest in ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) Increases By 63.1%

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 1,943,040 shares, an increase of 63.1% from the July 30th total of 1,191,229 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,368,648 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on ING. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of ING Group from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of ING Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ING Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its holdings in shares of ING Group by 1.5% during the second quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 22,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $698,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Greenspring Advisors LLC increased its holdings in ING Group by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Greenspring Advisors LLC now owns 11,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. raised its position in ING Group by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in ING Group by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 8,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in ING Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 106,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,973,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. 4.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ING Group Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of ING stock opened at $35.25 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $33.75 and a 200-day moving average of $30.43. The stock has a market cap of $100.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.84. ING Group has a 52-week low of $23.63 and a 52-week high of $36.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.10.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.04. ING Group had a return on equity of 12.59% and a net margin of 28.15%.The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.99 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ING Group will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ING Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.458 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 260.0%. ING Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.10%.

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.