NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts give NatWest an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from six brokerages (three hold, two buy, one strong buy), with recent actions including Zacks upgrading to strong-buy and BNP Paribas Exane moving from strong-sell to hold.
• NatWest beat expectations for the quarter with $0.46 EPS versus $0.38 estimated and revenue of $5.74 billion versus $5.59 billion, and the stock trades at a P/E of 8.69 with a market cap of about $62.05 billion.
• The bank declared a dividend of $0.621 payable May 5 (record/ex-dividend date March 20), with a dividend payout ratio of 67.6%.

Shares of NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on NWG shares. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of NatWest Group in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of NatWest Group in a research 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. Zacks Research upgraded shares of NatWest Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of NatWest Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th.

NatWest Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NWG opened at $15.56 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.95. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $16.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. NatWest Group has a 1-year low of $10.40 and a 1-year high of $19.35.

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

NatWest Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th will be given a $0.621 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 20th. This represents a yield of 895.0%. NatWest Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.60%.

Institutional Trading of NatWest Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NatWest Group by 47.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 281,646 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,357,000 after buying an additional 90,057 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in NatWest Group by 14,445.1% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 14,836 shares of the company's stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 14,734 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in NatWest Group by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,474,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,181,000 after acquiring an additional 455,538 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in NatWest Group during the 1st quarter valued at $2,282,000. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in NatWest Group by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 24,251 shares of the company's stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 10,034 shares during the last quarter. 1.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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