ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) Short Interest Down 34.1% in May

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 2,095,786 shares, a drop of 34.1% from the May 14th total of 3,178,949 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,507,292 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.8 days. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ING Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of ING Group by 249.9% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,047,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,404,000 after buying an additional 1,462,527 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in ING Group by 61.9% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,700,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,616,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032,177 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in ING Group by 4,512.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 911,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,520,000 after acquiring an additional 891,652 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of ING Group by 7.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 593,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of ING Group by 885.4% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 411,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,821,000 after purchasing an additional 369,310 shares during the last quarter. 4.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ING Group Price Performance

Shares of ING Group stock traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $31.58. 3,214,050 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,020,657. The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.46 and a 200 day moving average of $28.42. ING Group has a fifty-two week low of $20.39 and a fifty-two week high of $31.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.89 billion, a PE ratio of 12.50, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.03. ING Group had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 27.68%.The firm had revenue of $616.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.86 billion. On average, analysts predict that ING Group will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of ING Group in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded ING Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Zacks Research cut shares of ING Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of ING Group from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a report on Friday, May 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, ING Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

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.