ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 2,095,786 shares, a decrease of 34.1% from the May 14th total of 3,178,949 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,507,292 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.8 days.

ING Group Stock Performance

NYSE ING opened at $30.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $88.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $29.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.39. ING Group has a twelve month low of $20.39 and a twelve month high of $31.40.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $616.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.86 billion. ING Group had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 27.68%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ING Group will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on ING. Wall Street Zen cut ING Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Zacks Research lowered ING Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of ING Group in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised ING Group from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ING Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MidFirst Bank bought a new position in ING Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new stake in ING Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Binnacle Investments Inc increased its stake in ING Group by 57.0% in the 3rd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 1,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in 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 worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. 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.