Zacks Research Upgrades ING Group (NYSE:ING) to Strong-Buy

ING Group (NYSE:ING) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on ING Group in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup upgraded ING Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy”.

ING Group Price Performance

Shares of ING opened at $30.95 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $28.08 and its 200-day moving average is $25.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.07 billion, a PE ratio of 12.95, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.80. ING Group has a fifty-two week low of $16.22 and a fifty-two week high of $31.14.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $4.61 billion for 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 forecast that ING Group will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ING Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in ING Group by 7.3% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,764,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $191,681,000 after acquiring an additional 593,424 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of ING Group by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,456,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,223,000 after purchasing an additional 73,959 shares in the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ING Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 2,795,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,904,000 after purchasing an additional 26,639 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ING Group by 249.9% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,047,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,404,000 after buying an additional 1,462,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ING Group by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,990,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,918,000 after buying an additional 82,340 shares in the last quarter. 4.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.