Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on ING Group (NYSE:ING)

Investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of ING Group (NYSE:ING) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on ING. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup raised ING Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ING Group currently has an average rating of “Buy”.

ING Group Trading Down 1.1%

ING stock opened at $29.69 on Tuesday. ING Group has a one year low of $16.04 and a one year high of $30.10. The stock has a market cap of $86.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ING Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Binnacle Investments Inc increased its position in shares of ING Group by 57.0% during the third 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. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in ING Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 63,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,659,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of ING Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of ING Group by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of ING Group by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 18,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 4.49% of the company’s stock.

ING Group Company Profile

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.