4-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: ING Group

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Based on the aggregated intelligence of 120,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, Dutch financial services giant ING Group (NYSE: ING) has earned a respected four-star ranking. While five-star stocks have been the best performers, our data has shown that four-star stocks still outshine the market by a significant margin and shouldn't be taken lightly; conversely, low-rated stocks have woefully lagged the market average.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at ING's business, and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

ING facts

Headquarters (founded)

Amsterdam, Netherlands (1991)

Market Cap

$14.4 billion

Industry

Diversified Financial Services

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$91.0 billion

Management

CEO Michel Tilmant

CFO John Hele

Return on Equity (average last three years)

20.4%

Dividend Yield

30.9%

Competitors 

AIG (NYSE: AIG),

Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS)

CAPS members bullish on ING also bullish on

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC),

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ)

CAPS members bearish on ING also bearish on

Citigroup (NYSE: C),

General Motors (NYSE: GM)

Sources: MSN Money; Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's; and Motley Fool CAPS.

Over on CAPS, some 94% of the 814 members who have rated ING believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These Foolish bulls include M0NEYC0WB0Y and foodog78.

Two weeks ago, M0NEYC0WBOY looked at the stock from a consumer standpoint: "ING Direct and Sharebuilder have surprised me with their quality, pricing, Internet usability. They've got good advertising, and ethical, fair, forthright business practices. = big word of mouth promotion."

In a pitch from last week, foodog78 agreed, tapping ING as a bankable opportunity:

Business model is sound, bucks the trend for banking. Easy to use web based service keeps customer satisfaction high and costs low vs. traditional brick and mortar outfits. From day one they have told customers sub-prime and no-down payment is not an option, so bad mortgages should be far less of a hit to their bottom line.

What do you think about ING, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 120,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.

Closed for 15 months – opening 10 days only! Get notified ahead of time as our expert portfolio manager invests $1 MILLION in the best opportunities from across The Motley Fool’s premium investment services. This is the first open since August 2008, by invitation only. Enter email below.

Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. Bank of America and Johnson & Johnson are Motley Fool Income Investor picks. The Fool's disclosure policy always gets a perfect score.

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