ING Groep (NYSE:ING) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.65 Per Share

ING Groep (NYSE:ING) announced a semi-annual dividend on Tuesday, March 25th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be given a dividend of 0.6526 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, May 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. This is a 291.5% increase from ING Groep’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.17.

ING Groep has increased its dividend by an average of 19.7% annually over the last three years. ING Groep has a payout ratio of 13.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect ING Groep to earn $2.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.33 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 12.9%.

ING Groep Price Performance

ING stock traded down $0.23 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $20.06. 2,618,425 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,268,652. The stock has a market cap of $70.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.37, a P/E/G ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 1.44. ING Groep has a one year low of $15.09 and a one year 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.00.

ING Groep (NYSE:ING) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts expect that ING Groep will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.