ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Analysts

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company.

A number of research firms have issued reports on ING. Weiss Ratings cut ING Group from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley upgraded ING Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised ING Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ING Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MidFirst Bank bought a new stake in shares of ING Group in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in ING Group during the first quarter worth $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position in ING Group by 1,645.5% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 2,112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,991 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC bought a new position in ING Group in the second quarter valued at $93,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in ING Group by 411.2% in the 1st quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 2,533 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 4.49% of the company’s stock.

ING Group Stock Up 0.3%

ING Group stock opened at $34.88 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $35.75 and a 200-day moving average of $31.93. ING Group has a twelve month low of $23.64 and a twelve month high of $37.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.77 billion, a PE ratio of 13.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.87.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.99 billion. ING Group had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 12.59%. Equities analysts anticipate that ING Group will post 2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ING Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.4580 dividend. This represents a yield of 260.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This is a negative change from ING Group’s previous dividend of $0.8796. ING Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.10%.

ING Group Company Profile

ING Group N.V. is a Netherlands-based international banking and financial services company headquartered in Amsterdam. Through its banking operations, ING provides services to individuals, businesses and institutions, including current and savings accounts, consumer and residential lending, commercial loans, payments, investment products and other financial solutions.

ING serves customers across Europe and has a presence in selected markets in Asia and the Americas. Its retail banking business emphasizes digital platforms and mobile banking, while its wholesale banking division provides corporate and institutional clients with lending, financial markets, transaction services and other banking solutions.

The modern ING Group was formed in 1991 through the merger of Nationale-Nederlanden, an insurer, and NMB Postbank, a banking group.