ING Groep (NYSE:ING) Shares Gap Up Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of ING Groep (NYSE:ING) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock had previously closed at $19.77, but opened at $20.26. ING Groep shares last traded at $20.21, with a volume of 273,455 shares traded.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be issued a $0.6526 dividend. This represents a yield of 5.1%. This is a positive change from ING Groep’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. ING Groep’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of ING Groep from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

ING Groep Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $70.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.37, a PEG ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.02.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ING. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new position in shares of ING Groep in the 3rd quarter valued at $215,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in ING Groep by 3.7% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 84,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after buying an additional 2,980 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in ING Groep in the third quarter valued at about $2,428,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in ING Groep by 18.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 212,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,853,000 after acquiring an additional 32,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. bought a new position in shares of ING Groep in the third quarter worth about $185,000. 4.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.