NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) Shares Gap Down - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• NatWest Group's shares gapped down from a closing price of $14.33 to open at $13.80, closing at $13.89 with a trading volume of 564,035 shares.
• Analyst ratings have shifted, with Zacks Research downgrading the stock from "strong-buy" to "hold" and BNP Paribas changing its rating from "hold" to "strong sell."
• NatWest recently reported a quarterly EPS of $0.41, exceeding estimates of $0.37, alongside a dividend payout of $0.255 per share, reflecting a yield of 390.0%.

NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $14.33, but opened at $13.80. NatWest Group shares last traded at $13.89, with a volume of 564,035 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on NWG. Zacks Research cut NatWest Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. BNP Paribas lowered NatWest Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut NatWest Group from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NatWest Group has a consensus rating of "Hold".

NatWest Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $56.18 billion, a PE ratio of 8.97, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.08. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $14.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.39.

NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.06 billion. NatWest Group had a net margin of 16.84% and a return on equity of 11.99%. On average, research analysts forecast that NatWest Group plc will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

NatWest Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.255 per share. This represents a yield of 390.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. NatWest Group's payout ratio is currently 31.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in NatWest Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $294,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in NatWest Group by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 75,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $771,000 after buying an additional 6,998 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in NatWest Group in the 4th quarter worth $145,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in NatWest Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NatWest Group by 122.9% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 632,836 shares of the company's stock worth $6,436,000 after acquiring an additional 348,963 shares during the last quarter. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NatWest Group Company Profile

NatWest Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services to personal, commercial, corporate, and institutional customers in the United Kingdom and internationally. It operates through Retail Banking, Private Banking, and Commercial & Institutional segments.

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