Bank of America Corp DE Buys 1,048,804 Shares of NatWest Group plc $NWG

Key Points

• Bank of America increased its NatWest Group position by 17.8%, purchasing 1,048,804 shares to bring its total holdings to 6.95 million shares, valued at approximately $103.5 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with NatWest receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from MarketBeat-tracked analysts, despite one recent downgrade to “Hold.”
• NatWest reported quarterly EPS of $0.54, beating estimates of $0.45, while shares traded near their one-year high at $19.18. The company also declared a $0.3222 dividend, with a 60.2% payout ratio.

Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG - Free Report) by 17.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,948,264 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,048,804 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.17% of NatWest Group worth $103,529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of NatWest Group by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 40,912,201 shares of the company's stock valued at $715,964,000 after buying an additional 1,677,879 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NatWest Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $16,650,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in NatWest Group by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,061,146 shares of the company's stock worth $193,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009,044 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of NatWest Group by 150.7% during the 3rd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 1,612,872 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,822,000 after purchasing an additional 969,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in NatWest Group by 42.4% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,166,315 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,803,000 after buying an additional 942,059 shares during the period. 1.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on NWG. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of NatWest Group in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research cut NatWest Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded NatWest Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised NatWest Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on NatWest Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

NatWest Group Trading Up 0.8%

NWG stock opened at $19.18 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $76.44 billion, a PE ratio of 9.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.03. NatWest Group plc has a one year low of $13.56 and a one year high of $19.42. The company's 50 day moving average price is $17.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.63.

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 (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $5.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. As a group, analysts predict that NatWest Group plc will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NatWest Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.3222 dividend. This represents a yield of 340.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. NatWest Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.20%.

NatWest Group Company Profile

NatWest Group plc is a major UK-based banking and financial services group headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland. The company traces its roots to the Royal Bank of Scotland, founded in 1727, and adopted the NatWest Group name in 2020 as part of a strategic refocus on its NatWest brand. NatWest Group is listed on the London Stock Exchange and also has American depositary shares trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NWG.

The group provides a broad range of banking services across retail, private, commercial, corporate and institutional segments.

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