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

Shares of ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of ING Group in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of ING Group from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of ING Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Zacks Research cut shares of ING Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of ING Group in a report on Monday, March 23rd.

ING Group Trading Up 5.6%

ING opened at $29.99 on Thursday. ING Group has a 1-year low of $20.07 and a 1-year high of $31.17. 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 company has a market cap of $87.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.37.

ING Group (NYSE:ING - Get Free Report) 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.86 billion. ING Group had a net margin of 27.68% and a return on equity of 12.27%. Analysts predict that ING Group will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ING. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in ING Group by 249.9% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,047,717 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $53,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462,527 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake 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 valued at $75,616,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032,177 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in ING Group by 4,512.2% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 911,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,520,000 after acquiring an additional 891,652 shares during the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA boosted its stake in ING Group by 280.3% in the third quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 900,936 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $23,496,000 after acquiring an additional 664,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in ING Group by 7.3% in the second 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 last quarter. 4.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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