ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• ING Group has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from six ratings firms, with three hold recommendations, two buy recommendations, and one strong buy recommendation.
• The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the latest quarter, exceeding consensus estimates of $0.59, and had a revenue of $6.55 billion, surpassing expectations of $6.40 billion.
• ING Group has recently announced a semi-annual dividend of $0.4002 per share, yielding 450.0%, with a dividend payout ratio of 31.80% for the company.

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cfra Research upgraded ING Group from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays upgraded ING Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th.

ING Group Stock Performance

NYSE ING traded up $0.1250 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $24.8150. The stock had a trading volume of 2,694,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,901,483. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $22.80 and a 200 day moving average of $20.49. The stock has a market cap of $78.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.14. ING Group has a 52-week low of $15.09 and a 52-week high of $25.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12.

ING Group (NYSE:ING - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. ING Group had a return on equity of 11.62% and a net margin of 27.28%.The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.40 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that ING Group will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

ING Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 25th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $0.4002 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 450.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. ING Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.80%.

Institutional Trading of ING Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ING. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of ING Group by 40.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 39,915 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 11,558 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in ING Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $14,375,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in ING Group by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 33,367 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $523,000 after acquiring an additional 7,108 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in ING Group by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 152,153 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,385,000 after acquiring an additional 13,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in ING Group by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 79,904 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,252,000 after acquiring an additional 11,766 shares in the last quarter. 4.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ING Group Company Profile

ING Groep N.V. provides various banking products and services in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, rest of Europe, and internationally. It operates through five segments: Retail Netherlands, Retail Belgium, Retail Germany, Retail Other, and Wholesale Banking. The company accepts current and savings accounts.