ING Group (NYSE:ING) Hits New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a strong sell rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as high as $33.60 and last traded at $33.4850, with a volume of 1862455 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $32.83.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ING Group in a research report on Friday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Institutional Trading of ING Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. MidFirst Bank purchased a new position in shares of ING Group in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership grew its stake in shares of ING Group by 197.2% in the 4th 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 bought a new stake in shares of ING Group in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Binnacle Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of ING Group by 57.0% in the 3rd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 1,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $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% during the fourth 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. 4.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ING Group Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $92.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $31.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.45.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $616.97 million for 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%. On average, analysts expect that ING Group, N.V. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

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.