ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ING. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of ING Group in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Zacks Research cut shares of ING Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of ING Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ING Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in ING Group by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 8,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in ING Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in ING Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 106,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,973,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc raised its holdings in ING Group by 57.0% during the third quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 1,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in ING Group by 0.6% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 63,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,659,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 4.49% of the company’s stock.

ING Group Stock Performance

ING stock opened at $30.98 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $90.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.24, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.84. ING Group has a 1 year low of $20.39 and a 1 year high of $31.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $28.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.03.

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

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.