Should Value Investors Consider ING Group (ING) Stock Now?

Value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. After all, who wouldn’t want to find stocks that are either flying under the radar and are compelling buys, or offer up tantalizing discounts when compared to fair value?

One way to find these companies is by looking at several key metrics and financial ratios, many of which are crucial in the value stock selection process. Let’s put ING Groep N.V. ING stock into this equation and find out if it is a good choice for value-oriented investors right now, or if investors subscribing to this methodology should look elsewhere for top picks:

PE Ratio

A key metric that value investors always look at is the Price to Earnings Ratio, or PE for short. This shows us how much investors are willing to pay for each dollar of earnings in a given stock, and is easily one of the most popular financial ratios in the world. The best use of the PE ratio is to compare the stock’s current PE ratio with: a) where this ratio has been in the past; b) how it compares to the average for the industry/sector; and c) how it compares to the market as a whole.

On this front, ING Groep or ING Group has a trailing twelve months PE ratio of 8.2, as you can see in the chart below:

 

This level actually compares favorably with the market at large, as the PE for the S&P 500 stands at about 17.8. If we focus on the long-term PE trend, ING Group’s current PE level puts it below its midpoint over the past five years.

 

Further, the stock’s PE also compares pretty favorably with the Zacks Major Banks sector’s trailing twelve months PE ratio, which stands at 9.64. At the very least, this indicates that the stock is relatively undervalued right now, compared to its peers.

 

We should also point out that ING Group has a forward PE ratio (price relative to this year’s earnings) of just 7.51, so it is fair to say that a slightly more value-oriented path may be ahead for ING stock in the near term too.

P/S Ratio

Another key metric to note is the Price/Sales ratio. This approach compares a given stock’s price to its total sales, where a lower reading is generally considered better. Some people like this metric more than other value-focused ones because it looks at sales, something that is far harder to manipulate with accounting tricks than earnings.

Right now, ING Group has a P/S ratio of about 2.07. This is lower than the S&P 500 average, which comes in at 3.2x right now. Also, as we can see in the chart below, this is well below the highs for this stock in particular over the past few years.

 

If anything, this suggests some level of undervalued trading—at least compared to historical norms.

Broad Value Outlook

In aggregate, ING Group currently has a Value Score of B, putting it into the top 40% of all stocks we cover from this look. This makes the stock a solid choice for value investors, and some of its other key metrics make this pretty clear too.

For example, the P/CF ratio for ING Group comes in at 6.26, which is far better than the industry average of 7.92. Clearly, ING is a solid choice on the value front from multiple angles.

What About the Stock Overall?

Though ING might be a good choice for value investors, there are plenty of other factors to consider before investing in this name. In particular, it is worth noting that the company has a Growth Score of F and a Momentum Score of F. This gives ING a Zacks VGM score — or its overarching fundamental grade — of D. (You can read more about the Zacks Style Scores here >>)

Meanwhile, the company’s recent earnings estimates have been upbeat. The current year has seen one upward revision with no downward movement in the past sixty days. For the next year, the estimate has seen one upward revision in the same time period with no movement in the opposite direction.

This has had a noticeable impact on the consensus estimate as the current year consensus estimate has decreased 2% in the past two months, while the next year estimate has plunged 1.3%. You can see the consensus estimate trend and recent price action for the stock in the chart below:

ING Group, N.V. Price and Consensus

ING Group, N.V. Price and Consensus

ING Group, N.V. price-consensus-chart | ING Group, N.V. Quote

Despite the sluggish analyst sentiments, the stock holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Thus, we are looking for outperformance from the company in the near term.

Bottom Line

ING Group is an inspired choice for value investors, as it is hard to beat its incredible lineup of statistics on this front.

However, a dull industry rank (among Bottom 28% of more than 250 industries) is concerning. In fact, over the past two years, the Zacks Foreign Banks industry has clearly underperformed the market at large, as you can see below:

 

We believe, despite an unsatisfactory past industry performance, a good Zacks rank signal that the stock is likely to benefit from favorable broader factors in the immediate future. Add to this robust value metrics, and we believe that we have a strong value contender in ING Group.

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