NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) Shares Gap Down - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• NatWest shares gapped down, closing at $15.08 previously and opening at $14.32, with the stock last trading around $14.10 on a volume of 807,665 shares.
• The company beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $0.46 versus the $0.38 consensus and revenue of $5.74 billion versus $5.59 billion, and sell-side analysts expect about 1.35 EPS for the fiscal year.
• Analyst views are mixed but overall show a Moderate Buy consensus (1 Strong Buy, 2 Buy, 3 Hold), with recent rating moves including upgrades from BNP Paribas Exane and Zacks and a neutral from Goldman Sachs.

NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $15.08, but opened at $14.32. NatWest Group shares last traded at $14.1010, with a volume of 807,665 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NWG. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of NatWest Group in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of NatWest Group in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of NatWest Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of NatWest Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded NatWest Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NatWest Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

NatWest Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $56.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.87, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $16.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.03.

NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.08. NatWest Group had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 18.59%.The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NatWest Group plc will post 1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NatWest Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th will be paid a $0.621 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. This represents a yield of 886.0%. NatWest Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.93%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. ABC Arbitrage SA raised its position in shares of NatWest Group by 29.2% in the third quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 1,102,971 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,607,000 after purchasing an additional 249,117 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments grew its stake in NatWest Group by 108.3% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 87,057 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,232,000 after buying an additional 45,266 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp purchased a new position in shares of NatWest Group in the third quarter valued at $3,579,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in NatWest Group by 62.3% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,621,691 shares of the company's stock worth $22,947,000 after purchasing an additional 622,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in NatWest Group by 21.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,550,715 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,943,000 after buying an additional 268,787 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.27% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.