NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) Reaches New 12-Month High - What's Next?

Key Points

• NatWest shares reached a new 52-week high of $19.42, trading above both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive, with recent upgrades and a MarketBeat consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”, although one firm downgraded the stock to Hold.
• NatWest reported quarterly EPS of $0.54, exceeding the $0.45 consensus estimate, while analysts expect full-year EPS of approximately $1.98. The company also announced a $0.3222-per-share dividend.

NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $19.42 and last traded at $19.3750, with a volume of 8349 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $19.26.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded NatWest Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded NatWest Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of NatWest Group in a report on Friday, July 31st. Berenberg Bank began coverage on NatWest Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded NatWest Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

NatWest Group Trading Up 0.2%

The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $17.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.66. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $76.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.92.

NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.54 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. Equities research analysts expect that NatWest Group plc will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

NatWest Group Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NatWest Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in NatWest Group by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 40,912,201 shares of the company's stock worth $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 bought a new stake in shares of NatWest Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $16,650,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of NatWest Group by 17.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of NatWest Group by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,061,146 shares of the company's stock valued at $193,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in NatWest Group by 150.7% during the third quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 1,612,872 shares of the company's stock worth $22,822,000 after purchasing an additional 969,546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.27% of the company's stock.

About NatWest Group

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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