ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) Short Interest Update

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 4,291,953 shares, an increase of 28.6% from the December 15th total of 3,336,245 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,344,779 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,344,779 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Trading of ING Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Pacific Financial raised its holdings in shares of ING Group by 665.4% during the fourth quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 44,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,256,000 after purchasing an additional 38,983 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of ING Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $210,000. Archford Capital Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of ING Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $212,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ING Group by 885.4% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 411,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,821,000 after buying an additional 369,310 shares during the period. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ING Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 62,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,749,000 after buying an additional 2,423 shares during the last quarter. 4.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on ING shares. Citigroup upgraded ING Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy”.

ING Group Price Performance

NYSE:ING opened at $28.47 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.34. ING Group has a 52 week low of $16.04 and a 52 week high of $29.21. The stock has a market cap of $82.87 billion, a PE ratio of 12.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.82.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.06. ING Group had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 26.94%.The company had revenue of $6.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.35 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that ING Group will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ING Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 8th will be given a dividend of $0.2009 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 8th. This represents a yield of 71.0%. ING Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.08%.

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.