ING Group (NYSE:ING) Reaches New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• ING Group shares reached a new 52-week high, trading as high as $37.29 and last at $37.42, with the stock well above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive: ING has an average “Moderate Buy” rating, including one Strong Buy and four Buy ratings, while Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to Overweight.
• ING reported quarterly EPS of $0.79, beating consensus by $0.04, alongside a 28.15% net margin and 12.59% return on equity. The company also declared a $0.458-per-share dividend, with a 29.10% payout ratio.

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $37.29 and last traded at $37.4220, with a volume of 1341435 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $37.18.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ING shares. Zacks Research raised ING Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of ING Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded ING Group from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

ING Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $107.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.67.

ING Group (NYSE:ING - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.04. ING Group had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 12.59%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.99 billion. Analysts forecast that ING Group, N.V. will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ING Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.458 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 260.0%. ING Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.10%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its holdings in shares of ING Group by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 22,251 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $698,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Greenspring Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of ING Group by 3.1% in the second quarter. Greenspring Advisors LLC now owns 11,216 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ING Group by 3.5% during the second quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,309 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of ING Group by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 8,734 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in ING Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 106,170 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,973,000 after buying an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. 4.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About ING Group

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.