ING Group (NYSE:ING) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $33.05 and last traded at $33.0980, with a volume of 325042 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $32.30.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ING shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of ING Group from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Zacks Research downgraded ING Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of ING Group in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ING Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

ING Group Trading Up 1.7%

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.85.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.03. ING Group had a net margin of 27.68% and a return on equity of 12.27%. The firm had revenue of $616.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.86 billion. Equities research analysts expect that ING Group, N.V. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ING Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. raised its position in ING Group by 3.5% during the second 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 period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of ING Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of ING Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 106,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,973,000 after buying an additional 374 shares during the period. Finally, Binnacle Investments Inc increased its holdings in ING Group by 57.0% during the third quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 1,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the period. 4.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.