NatWest Group plc (NWG) - What Are Researchers Thinking About This Stock?

Key Points

• NatWest Group has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 11 analysts: six rate it a buy, one a strong buy and four a hold. Recent upgrades came from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Morgan Stanley, while Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock to hold.
• The shares opened at $17.09, below their 50-day moving average of $18.32, with a market capitalization of approximately $67.88 billion. NatWest’s latest quarterly earnings beat estimates, reporting $0.54 in EPS versus the $0.45 consensus.
• The company reduced its dividend to $0.3222 from $0.6210, while several institutional investors—including Bank of America—recently increased their holdings.

NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NWG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of NatWest Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of NatWest Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of NatWest Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of NatWest Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 9th. Finally, Berenberg Bank began coverage on shares of NatWest Group in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock.

NatWest Group Trading Down 2.4%

NYSE NWG opened at $17.09 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average is $18.32 and its 200-day moving average is $17.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.51, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.94. NatWest Group has a one year low of $13.76 and a one year high of $19.42.

NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. NatWest Group had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 14.01%. The company had revenue of $5.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Equities research analysts predict that NatWest Group will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

NatWest Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were given a $0.3222 dividend. This is a decrease from NatWest Group's previous dividend of $0.6210. This represents a yield of 337.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. NatWest Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.34%.

Institutional Trading of NatWest Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NWG. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of NatWest Group by 28.9% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 566,648 shares of the company's stock worth $8,443,000 after acquiring an additional 126,996 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NatWest Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $4,239,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its holdings in NatWest Group by 104.6% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 175,888 shares of the company's stock worth $3,101,000 after acquiring an additional 89,928 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in NatWest Group by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,948,264 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048,804 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in NatWest Group by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 558,069 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,839,000 after acquiring an additional 61,748 shares during the period. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About NatWest Group

NatWest Group plc is a United Kingdom-based banking and financial services company. Through brands including NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank and Coutts, it provides current accounts, savings products, mortgages, personal loans, credit cards, insurance and other financial services to individuals and households.

The group also serves small and medium-sized businesses, larger companies and institutional clients. Its commercial and institutional banking activities include lending, transaction banking, cash management, payments, trade finance, capital markets services and risk-management solutions.

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