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

NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,210,000 shares, a growth of 29.0% from the March 15th total of 4,040,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,500,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.9 days. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NatWest Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of NatWest Group by 374.5% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,102 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,659 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NatWest Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in NatWest Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in NatWest Group by 161.4% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,894 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,787 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NatWest Group during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. 1.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on NWG. BNP Paribas lowered NatWest Group from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Peel Hunt downgraded shares of NatWest Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy".

NatWest Group Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:NWG traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $12.66. 880,484 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,264,989. The company's 50 day moving average is $11.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.72. The company has a market capitalization of $50.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.93. NatWest Group has a twelve month low of $7.18 and a twelve month high of $12.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $4.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NatWest Group will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NatWest Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.3899 per share. This is a boost from NatWest Group's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.8%. NatWest Group's payout ratio is currently 55.88%.

About NatWest Group

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.