Huntington National Bank Grows Stock Position in ING Groep (NYSE:ING)

Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of ING Groep (NYSE:ING) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 597 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in ING Groep were worth $549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new position in ING Groep during the third quarter worth about $215,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in ING Groep by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 212,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,853,000 after buying an additional 32,701 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in ING Groep by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 65,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after acquiring an additional 3,552 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ING Groep during the third quarter worth $455,000. Finally, Centiva Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of ING Groep by 78.9% in the third quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 20,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 8,927 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 4.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded ING Groep from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

ING Groep Trading Down 8.7 %

ING Groep stock opened at $17.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. ING Groep has a fifty-two week low of $15.09 and a fifty-two week high of $20.79. The stock has a market cap of $60.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.11, a PEG ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $18.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.09.

ING Groep (NYSE:ING) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.02). ING Groep had a net margin of 28.30% and a return on equity of 11.81%. Equities research analysts forecast that ING Groep will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ING Groep Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th will be given a $0.6526 dividend. This is an increase from ING Groep’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. This represents a yield of 5.1%. ING Groep’s payout ratio is presently 60.75%.

About ING Groep

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.