NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest plunged 39.6% to 1,203,371 shares as of March 13, leaving a short-interest ratio of just 0.3 days based on average volume and with approximately 0.0% of shares reported as sold short.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive with a consensus of "Moderate Buy" (1 Strong Buy, 2 Buy, 3 Hold), and the company recently beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $0.46 versus $0.38 and revenue of $5.74 billion versus $5.59 billion.
• NatWest declared a dividend of $0.621 per share payable May 5 (record and ex-dividend date March 20), with a reported payout ratio of 67.6%.

NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,203,371 shares, a decrease of 39.6% from the February 26th total of 1,991,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,394,865 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.3 days. Approximately 0.0% of the company's stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of NatWest Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of NatWest Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. 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. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of NatWest Group in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of NatWest Group in a report on Thursday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NatWest Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of NatWest Group by 427.7% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,484 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its holdings in NatWest Group by 2,941.7% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,765 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in NatWest Group by 88.7% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,068 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 972 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of NatWest Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Rachor Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of NatWest Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 1.27% of the company's stock.

NatWest Group Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NWG traded up $0.08 on Friday, hitting $14.38. 2,922,597 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,949,136. The company has a market capitalization of $57.36 billion, a PE ratio of 8.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.04. NatWest Group has a one year low of $10.40 and a one year high of $19.35.

NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.59 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NatWest Group will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NatWest Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.621 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. This represents a yield of 895.0%. NatWest Group's dividend payout ratio is 67.60%.

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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