ING Group (NYSE:ING) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $26.73 and last traded at $26.6550, with a volume of 147292 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $26.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ING has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of ING Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of ING Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of ING Group in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Cfra Research raised ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy”.

ING Group Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.81.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.35 billion. ING Group had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 26.94%. Equities research analysts forecast that ING Group, N.V. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ING Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 593,424 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in ING Group by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,894,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,653,000 after buying an additional 185,506 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in 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 worth $116,223,000 after acquiring an additional 73,959 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC lifted its position in ING Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 2,795,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,904,000 after acquiring an additional 26,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in ING Group by 249.9% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,047,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,462,527 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 4.49% of the company’s stock.

ING Group Company Profile

ING Groep N.V. provides various banking products and services in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, rest of Europe, and internationally. It operates through five segments: Retail Netherlands, Retail Belgium, Retail Germany, Retail Other, and Wholesale Banking. The company accepts current and savings accounts.