ING Group (NYSE:ING) Rating Increased to Hold at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

ING Group (NYSE:ING) was upgraded by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on ING Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of ING Group in a research report on Monday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, ING Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

ING Group Stock Performance

NYSE ING opened at $25.15 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. ING Group has a 1 year low of $16.47 and a 1 year high of $31.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.18 billion, a PE ratio of 10.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.78.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. ING Group had a net margin of 27.50% and a return on equity of 12.05%. The firm had revenue of $4.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.67 billion. Analysts predict that ING Group will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of ING Group by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 190,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,320,000 after acquiring an additional 20,923 shares during the last quarter. MidFirst Bank bought a new stake in ING Group in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. SG Trading Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in ING Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $405,000. Compound Planning Inc. grew its stake in shares of ING Group by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 58,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,635,000 after buying an additional 5,815 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of ING Group by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 54,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,518,000 after buying an additional 9,542 shares during the period. 4.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.