ING Group (NYSE:ING) Hits New 1-Year High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• ING Group's share price achieved a new 52-week high at $25.12, closing at $25.10 with a trading volume of 2.2 million shares.
• Analysts have upgraded ING's ratings, with Barclays and Morgan Stanley both raising their ratings to "overweight", leading to an average rating of "Moderate Buy".
• The company beat analysts' expectations in its latest earnings report, posting $0.64 EPS and revenue of $6.55 billion, compared to expectations of $6.40 billion.

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $25.12 and last traded at $25.10, with a volume of 2228030 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.77.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ING. Barclays upgraded shares of ING Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of ING Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ING Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

ING Group Stock Down 1.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.10. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $23.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.50.

ING Group (NYSE:ING - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.40 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that ING Group, N.V. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new stake in ING Group in the 1st quarter valued at $36,062,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in ING Group by 197.6% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,667,239 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,661,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106,926 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in ING Group by 25.7% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 4,250,850 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $83,274,000 after acquiring an additional 869,281 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings 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 last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in ING Group by 1,434.0% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 405,101 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,932,000 after acquiring an additional 378,693 shares during the last quarter. 4.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About ING Group

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.