Wall Street Zen Downgrades ING Group (NYSE:ING) to Hold

ING Group (NYSE:ING) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup raised ING Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of ING Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ING Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

ING Group Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of ING stock opened at $25.53 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $28.77 and its 200 day moving average is $26.76. ING Group has a 52-week low of $16.47 and a 52-week high of $31.17. The company has a market capitalization of $74.31 billion, a PE ratio of 10.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.78. 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 (NYSE:ING) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $4.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.67 billion. ING Group had a net margin of 27.50% and a return on equity of 12.05%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that ING Group will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ING Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ING. Abound Wealth Management raised its stake in ING Group by 2,757.6% in 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 in the last quarter. MidFirst Bank bought a new stake in ING Group during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership boosted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc increased its holdings in shares of ING Group by 57.0% in 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 period. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 871 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.