ING Group (NYSE:ING) Share Price Breaks Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Here's Why

Key Points

• ING Group shares broke above their 200-day moving average, reaching $33.60 compared with a $32.16 average, before last trading at $33.4050.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with one Strong Buy, nine Buy and four Hold ratings; the stock carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus and a $34.50 average price target.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.79, beating estimates of $0.75, while institutional investors increased holdings; however, ING reduced its dividend to $0.4580 per share from $0.8796.

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING - Get Free Report)'s stock price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $32.16 and traded as high as $33.60. ING Group shares last traded at $33.4050, with a volume of 2,211,207 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings raised ING Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "buy" rating on shares of ING Group in a report on Thursday, October 1st. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of ING Group in a report on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of ING Group in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, DZ Bank reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of ING Group in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.50.

ING Group Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $95.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.87. The firm's fifty day moving average is $35.68 and its 200 day moving average is $32.16.

ING Group (NYSE:ING - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.99 billion. ING Group had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 12.59%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that ING Group, N.V. will post 2.80 EPS for the current year.

ING Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a dividend of $0.4580 per share. This is a drop from ING Group's previous dividend of $0.8796. This represents a dividend yield of 260.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. ING Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.10%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ING Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in ING Group by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,451,137 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $168,052,000 after buying an additional 61,919 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of ING Group by 9.5% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 1,803,670 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $46,986,000 after buying an additional 156,461 shares in the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ING Group by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 632,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $17,717,000 after buying an additional 86,364 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ING Group by 15.4% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 394,253 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,372,000 after buying an additional 52,524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of ING Group by 0.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 313,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,167,000 after acquiring an additional 1,467 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 4.49% of the company's stock.

ING Group Company Profile

ING Group N.V. is a Netherlands-based international banking and financial services company headquartered in Amsterdam. Through its banking operations, ING provides services to individuals, businesses and institutions, including current and savings accounts, consumer and residential lending, commercial loans, payments, investment products and other financial solutions.

ING serves customers across Europe and has a presence in selected markets in Asia and the Americas. Its retail banking business emphasizes digital platforms and mobile banking, while its wholesale banking division provides corporate and institutional clients with lending, financial markets, transaction services and other banking solutions.

The modern ING Group was formed in 1991 through the merger of Nationale-Nederlanden, an insurer, and NMB Postbank, a banking group.

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