ING Groep (NYSE:ING) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

ING Groep (NYSE:ING) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,910,000 shares, a decline of 34.8% from the February 13th total of 2,930,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,860,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.7 days. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Morgan Stanley lowered ING Groep from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ING Groep

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ING. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its stake in ING Groep by 42.2% in the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 52,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $952,000 after acquiring an additional 15,547 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in ING Groep by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 1,314 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in ING Groep by 71.3% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,306,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,051,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,713 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new stake in ING Groep in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in ING Groep by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 97,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,763,000 after acquiring an additional 4,519 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 4.49% of the company’s stock.

ING Groep Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of ING traded up $0.48 on Friday, hitting $20.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,534,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,273,339. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $17.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.91. ING Groep has a fifty-two week low of $15.09 and a fifty-two week high of $20.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.46, a P/E/G ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 1.44.

ING Groep (NYSE:ING) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.02). ING Groep had a net margin of 28.30% and a return on equity of 11.81%. On average, equities research analysts expect that ING Groep will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

ING Groep Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th were paid a $0.1667 dividend. This represents a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 13th. ING Groep’s payout ratio is 29.91%.

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.