ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of ING Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of ING Group from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded ING Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of ING Group in a report on Monday, March 23rd.

ING Group Stock Up 0.7%

ING stock opened at $31.40 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $30.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. ING Group has a fifty-two week low of $21.84 and a fifty-two week high of $32.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.41, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.84.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.03. ING Group had a net margin of 27.68% and a return on equity of 12.27%. The firm had revenue of $616.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.86 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that ING Group will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ING Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MidFirst Bank acquired a new position in ING Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership boosted its holdings in ING Group by 197.2% in the fourth quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in ING Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Binnacle Investments Inc boosted its holdings in ING Group by 57.0% in the third quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 1,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in ING Group by 359.9% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. 4.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.