HighTower Advisors LLC Has $22.08 Million Stake in ING Group, N.V. $ING

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 846,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,751 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in ING Group were worth $22,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in ING Group by 7.3% in the 2nd 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 buying an additional 593,424 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 82,340 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ING Group by 10.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,408,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,800,000 after purchasing an additional 132,184 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of ING Group by 25.2% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,314,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,753,000 after purchasing an additional 264,858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in ING Group by 2.9% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 983,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,511,000 after purchasing an additional 27,545 shares during the last quarter. 4.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ING. Wall Street Zen raised shares of ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Citigroup upgraded ING Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Zacks Research raised ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy”.

ING Group Price Performance

NYSE:ING opened at $29.03 on Friday. ING Group, N.V. has a 12-month low of $16.47 and a 12-month high of $31.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $28.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. ING Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 27.50%.The company had revenue of $4.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.67 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that ING Group, N.V. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

ING Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 589.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 17th. ING Group’s payout ratio is currently 28.87%.

ING Group 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.