ING Group (NYSE:ING) Upgraded at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of ING Group (NYSE:ING) from a moderate sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on ING. Zacks Research raised shares of ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of ING Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of ING Group in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on ING Group in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ING Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

ING Group Price Performance

ING Group stock opened at $24.81 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $28.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $72.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.78. ING Group has a 52 week low of $16.47 and a 52 week high of $31.17.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. ING Group had a return on equity of 12.05% and a net margin of 27.50%.The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.67 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that ING Group will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ING Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.8796 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 17th. This represents a yield of 589.0%. ING Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.87%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Abound Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of ING Group by 2,757.6% during the third quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 910 shares during the last quarter. MidFirst Bank acquired a new stake in ING Group during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership raised its position in shares of ING Group by 197.2% during the 4th quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc raised its position in shares of ING Group by 57.0% during the 3rd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 1,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of ING Group by 359.9% in the 4th 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 4.49% of the company’s stock.

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.