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

Key Points

• ING Group has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from six brokerages, with two hold ratings, three buy ratings, and one strong buy rating.
• Institutional investors have shown increased interest in ING Group, with Allspring Global Investments increasing its holdings by 68.7% in the first quarter.
• ING Group recently declared a semi-annual dividend of $0.4002 per share, representing a yield of 450.0% and a payout ratio of 31.34%.

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company.

A number of research firms recently commented on ING. Barclays upgraded shares of ING Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of ING Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ING. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD acquired a new position in ING Group in the first quarter worth approximately $36,062,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in ING Group by 197.6% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,667,239 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,661,000 after buying an additional 1,106,926 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in ING Group by 25.7% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 4,250,850 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $83,274,000 after buying an additional 869,281 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position 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 worth $191,681,000 after buying an additional 593,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in ING Group by 1,434.0% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 405,101 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,932,000 after buying an additional 378,693 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 4.49% of the company's stock.

ING Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ING traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $25.37. The stock had a trading volume of 1,795,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,800,041. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $23.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.37. ING Group has a 1-year low of $15.09 and a 1-year high of $25.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.10. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. ING Group had a net margin of 27.28% and a return on equity of 11.62%. The company had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.40 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ING Group will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ING Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.4002 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a yield of 450.0%. ING Group's payout ratio is 31.80%.

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.