NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) Upgraded by BNP Paribas Exane to “Strong-Buy” Rating

BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings cut NatWest Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut NatWest Group from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Zacks Research cut NatWest Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

NatWest Group Stock Performance

NYSE NWG opened at $15.75 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $62.84 billion, a PE ratio of 8.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. NatWest Group has a twelve month low of $12.85 and a twelve month high of $19.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.38.

NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.80 billion. NatWest Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 19.11%. Equities analysts anticipate that NatWest Group will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

NatWest Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $0.621 per share. This represents a yield of 895.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 20th. NatWest Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NatWest Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NWG. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in NatWest Group by 136.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,273,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,886,141 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of NatWest Group by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 39,234,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $555,166,000 after acquiring an additional 1,702,930 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC purchased a new position in NatWest Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $16,650,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in NatWest Group by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,061,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,570,000 after buying an additional 1,009,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of NatWest Group by 150.7% in the 3rd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 1,612,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,822,000 after purchasing an additional 969,546 shares during the last quarter. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.