NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG – Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,190,000 shares, a decline of 61.6% from the October 31st total of 5,700,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,620,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several brokerages have weighed in on NWG. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of NatWest Group from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of NatWest Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 2nd. Barclays raised shares of NatWest Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 17th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of NatWest Group from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 7th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of NatWest Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NatWest Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $363.33.
NatWest Group Trading Up 1.9 %
Shares of NYSE NWG traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $5.30. The stock had a trading volume of 1,340,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,577,092. The firm has a market cap of $23.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.29. NatWest Group has a twelve month low of $4.30 and a twelve month high of $7.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $5.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.89.
NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 27th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter. NatWest Group had a return on equity of 10.86% and a net margin of 21.11%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NatWest Group will post 1.02 EPS for the current year.
NatWest Group Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.135 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 1st. This represents a yield of 9.9%.
Institutional Trading of NatWest Group
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NWG. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its stake in NatWest Group by 480.7% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 11,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 9,565 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in NatWest Group by 93.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 5,071 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in NatWest Group by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 183,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 10,821 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of NatWest Group by 63.8% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 13,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 5,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in shares of NatWest Group by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 44,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 5,469 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.12% of the company’s stock.
NatWest Group Company Profile
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.