ING Group (NYSE:ING) Sees Strong Trading Volume – What’s Next?

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) shares saw strong trading volume on Friday . 5,805,783 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 121% from the previous session’s volume of 2,627,372 shares.The stock last traded at $28.3370 and had previously closed at $28.82.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of ING Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

ING Group Trading Down 1.8%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99. The business’s fifty day moving average is $28.68 and its 200 day moving average is $26.21. The stock has a market cap of $82.38 billion, a PE ratio of 11.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.80.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $4.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.67 billion. ING Group had a net margin of 27.50% and a return on equity of 12.26%. As a group, analysts predict that ING Group, N.V. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

ING Group Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in ING Group by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,764,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $191,681,000 after acquiring an additional 593,424 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ING Group by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,804,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $218,535,000 after purchasing an additional 191,101 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of ING Group by 1.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,456,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,223,000 after purchasing an additional 73,959 shares during the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ING Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 2,795,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,904,000 after purchasing an additional 26,639 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of ING Group by 61.9% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,700,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,616,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,177 shares during the last quarter. 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.