NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) Shares Down 5% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• NatWest Group shares fell 5.1% to approximately $17.24 in midday trading, with volume significantly below the stock’s average session volume.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive: recent upgrades from Morgan Stanley and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods helped support a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, despite one downgrade to “Hold.”
• The company exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $0.54 versus the $0.45 consensus estimate, but recently cut its dividend to $0.3222 from $0.6210.

NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 5% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $17.32 and last traded at $17.2350. Approximately 590,477 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 3,879,167 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.15.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NWG shares. Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on NatWest Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded NatWest Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of NatWest Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of NatWest Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of NatWest Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

NatWest Group Trading Down 5.1%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $18.64 and a 200 day moving average of $17.06. The company has a market cap of $68.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. NatWest Group had a return on equity of 14.01% and a net margin of 20.10%. On average, analysts predict that NatWest Group plc will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NatWest Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a $0.3222 dividend. This represents a yield of 337.0%. This is a decrease from NatWest Group's previous dividend of $0.6210. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. NatWest Group's payout ratio is presently 31.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of NatWest Group by 17.8% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,948,264 shares of the company's stock worth $103,529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048,804 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in NatWest Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,858,522 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,024,000 after purchasing an additional 18,334 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings in NatWest Group by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,726,761 shares of the company's stock worth $30,218,000 after buying an additional 291,148 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in NatWest Group by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 1,370,108 shares of the company's stock worth $23,977,000 after buying an additional 57,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of NatWest Group by 14.0% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 889,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,254,000 after buying an additional 109,338 shares in the last quarter. 1.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NatWest Group Company Profile

NatWest Group plc is a United Kingdom-based banking and financial services company. Through brands including NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland and Coutts, it provides banking and financial solutions to individuals, families, businesses and institutional clients.

The group's activities include personal and premier banking, current and savings accounts, residential mortgages, consumer lending, credit cards, wealth management, business banking, commercial lending, transaction services and investment banking.

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