ING Group (NYSE:ING) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $32.22 and last traded at $32.1720, with a volume of 4418265 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.36.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

ING Group Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market cap of $93.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.84.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 27.68%.The firm had revenue of $616.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.86 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ING Group, N.V. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ING Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 593,424 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ING Group by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,804,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $218,535,000 after purchasing an additional 191,101 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake 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 worth $116,223,000 after purchasing an additional 73,959 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,032,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in ING Group by 249.9% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,047,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462,527 shares during the period. 4.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.