ING Group (NYSE:ING) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) reached a new 52-week high on Monday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as high as $30.70 and last traded at $30.2850, with a volume of 2386060 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $29.39.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on ING. Citigroup upgraded shares of ING Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on ING Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ING Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in ING Group by 249.9% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,047,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,404,000 after buying an additional 1,462,527 shares during the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA increased its position in shares of ING Group by 280.3% during the 3rd quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 900,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,496,000 after purchasing an additional 664,063 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of ING Group by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,764,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $191,681,000 after purchasing an additional 593,424 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in ING Group by 885.4% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 411,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,821,000 after buying an additional 369,310 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of ING Group by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,721,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,884,000 after purchasing an additional 312,720 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 4.49% of the company’s stock.

ING Group Trading Up 2.6%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $27.86 and a 200 day moving average of $25.75. The firm has a market cap of $87.79 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.80.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. The firm 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 12.26%. Equities analysts anticipate that ING Group, N.V. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

ING Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 17th will be issued a $0.8796 dividend. This represents a yield of 589.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 17th. ING Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.87%.

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.