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

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

ING Group Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:ING opened at $30.39 on Tuesday. ING Group has a one year low of $20.39 and a one year high of $31.40. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $29.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.39. The firm has a market capitalization 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.03. ING Group had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 27.68%.The company had revenue of $616.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.86 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that ING Group will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of ING Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ING. MidFirst Bank purchased a new stake in ING Group in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership increased its position in ING Group by 197.2% in the fourth quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in ING Group in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Binnacle Investments Inc increased its position in ING Group by 57.0% in the third quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 1,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in ING Group by 359.9% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 4.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.