ING Group (NYSE:ING) Sees Large Volume Increase – Time to Buy?

ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 5,805,783 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 121% from the previous session’s volume of 2,627,372 shares.The stock last traded at $28.3370 and had previously closed at $28.82.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ING. Citigroup upgraded shares of ING Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of ING Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

ING Group Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.15. The company has a market capitalization of $81.99 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $4.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.67 billion. ING Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 27.50%. Equities 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 announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 17th will be given a $0.8796 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 589.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 17th. ING Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ING Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ING. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of ING Group by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 320,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,978,000 after purchasing an additional 18,101 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in ING Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $680,000. OpenArc Corporate Advisory LLC acquired a new position in ING Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $476,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in ING Group by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 462,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,940,000 after buying an additional 56,398 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in ING Group by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 63,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,791,000 after buying an additional 12,983 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 4.49% of the company’s stock.

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.