NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) Upgraded at BNP Paribas Exane

BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on NWG. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of NatWest Group in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of NatWest Group in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NatWest Group in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised NatWest Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NatWest Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

NatWest Group Stock Performance

Shares of NWG opened at $16.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $66.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.26, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.95. NatWest Group has a twelve month low of $10.40 and a twelve month high of $19.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $17.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.98.

NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. NatWest Group had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 18.59%. On average, analysts forecast that NatWest Group will post 1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NatWest Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 20th will be issued a $0.621 dividend. This represents a yield of 743.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. NatWest Group’s dividend payout ratio is 27.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NatWest Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWG. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in NatWest Group by 427.7% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,484 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its holdings in NatWest Group by 2,941.7% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,765 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of NatWest Group by 88.7% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 972 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of NatWest Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Rachor Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in NatWest Group during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 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.