JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Purchases 5,219 Shares of ING Groep (NYSE:ING)

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd raised its position in ING Groep (NYSE:ING) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 81,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,219 shares during the quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd’s holdings in ING Groep were worth $1,279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ING Groep in the fourth quarter valued at $14,375,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of ING Groep by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 92,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,442,000 after purchasing an additional 14,476 shares during the period. ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in shares of ING Groep during the 4th quarter valued at $10,129,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in shares of ING Groep by 97.4% during the 4th quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 51,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $814,000 after purchasing an additional 25,624 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of ING Groep by 33.2% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 166,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,614,000 after purchasing an additional 41,457 shares during the period. 4.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Cfra Research upgraded ING Groep from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded ING Groep from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Four research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

ING Groep Price Performance

ING opened at $20.51 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.32. ING Groep has a 12-month low of $15.09 and a 12-month high of $20.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.58, a PEG ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 1.15.

ING Groep (NYSE:ING) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.07). ING Groep had a return on equity of 11.81% and a net margin of 28.30%. The firm had revenue of $6.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.74 billion. Equities analysts predict that ING Groep will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ING Groep Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th were issued a $0.6526 dividend. This is a boost from ING Groep’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.17. This represents a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. ING Groep’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.45%.

ING Groep 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.