NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) Stock Breaks Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - What's Next?

Key Points

• NatWest Group shares moved above their 200-day moving average, reaching $17.51 versus the $17.09 average, signaling improved technical momentum.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive: the stock has an average “Moderate Buy” rating, with one Strong Buy, six Buy and three Hold ratings.
• The bank exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $0.54 versus the $0.45 consensus estimate, though its latest dividend was reduced to $0.3222 from $0.6210.

NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG - Get Free Report) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $17.09 and traded as high as $17.51. NatWest Group shares last traded at $17.2270, with a volume of 6,541,156 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NWG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded NatWest Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Barclays raised shares of NatWest Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of NatWest Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded NatWest Group from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of NatWest Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

NatWest Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $18.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.09. The company has a market cap of $68.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.94.

NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. NatWest Group had a return on equity of 14.01% and a net margin of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $5.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NatWest Group plc will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

NatWest Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a $0.3222 dividend. This is a negative change from NatWest Group's previous dividend of $0.6210. This represents a dividend yield of 337.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. NatWest Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NatWest Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of NatWest Group by 28.9% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 566,648 shares of the company's stock worth $8,443,000 after acquiring an additional 126,996 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in NatWest Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $4,239,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its position in NatWest Group by 104.6% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 175,888 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,101,000 after purchasing an additional 89,928 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in NatWest Group by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 558,069 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,839,000 after purchasing an additional 61,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in NatWest Group by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,948,264 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048,804 shares in the last quarter. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 and Coutts, it provides current accounts, savings products, mortgages, personal loans, credit cards, insurance and other financial services to individuals and households.

The group also serves small and medium-sized businesses, larger companies and institutional clients. Its commercial and institutional banking activities include lending, transaction banking, cash management, payments, trade finance, capital markets services and risk-management solutions.

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