NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,040,000 shares, a decline of 27.9% from the February 28th total of 5,600,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,920,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.8 days. Currently, 0.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NatWest Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of NatWest Group by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 11,118,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,072,000 after buying an additional 408,239 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in NatWest Group by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,322,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,473,000 after acquiring an additional 216,053 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in NatWest Group by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,712,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,924,000 after purchasing an additional 944,464 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC increased its stake in NatWest Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 4,135,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,057,000 after purchasing an additional 10,755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of NatWest Group by 45.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,243,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,014,926 shares during the period. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NatWest Group Trading Down 1.4 %

NatWest Group stock traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $11.98. 4,530,736 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,012,134. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. NatWest Group has a 12 month low of $6.70 and a 12 month high of $12.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.81, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.22.

NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $4.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.75 billion. Analysts forecast that NatWest Group will post 1.35 EPS for the current year.

NatWest Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.3899 per share. This is a positive change from NatWest Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.8%. NatWest Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NWG. Peel Hunt downgraded shares of NatWest Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. BNP Paribas lowered NatWest Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NatWest Group currently has an average rating of “Buy”.

About NatWest Group

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.