ING Group (NYSE:ING) Hits New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a strong sell rating to a hold rating. The company traded as high as $33.60 and last traded at $33.4850, with a volume of 1862455 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $32.83.

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a report on Friday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ING Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ING. MidFirst Bank acquired a new position in shares of ING Group during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership raised its holdings in shares of ING Group by 197.2% during the 4th quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 629 shares during the period. Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ING Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Binnacle Investments Inc raised its holdings in shares of ING Group by 57.0% during the 3rd 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. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in ING Group by 359.9% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. 4.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ING Group Stock Down 2.4%

The stock has a market capitalization of $92.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $31.50 and a 200 day moving average of $29.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $616.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.86 billion. ING Group had a net margin of 27.68% and a return on equity of 12.27%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ING Group, N.V. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

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.