Short Interest in NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG) Declines By 27.9%

NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,040,000 shares, a drop of 27.9% from the February 28th total of 5,600,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,920,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.8 days. Approximately 0.1% of the company's stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NWG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BNP Paribas lowered NatWest Group from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Peel Hunt cut NatWest Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NatWest Group has an average rating of "Buy".

NatWest Group Stock Down 2.8 %

NWG traded down $0.34 during trading on Thursday, hitting $11.84. The stock had a trading volume of 6,097,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,288,558. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.44. The company has a market capitalization of $47.66 billion, a PE ratio of 8.70, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. NatWest Group has a twelve month low of $6.74 and a twelve month high of $12.65.

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NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $4.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.75 billion. On average, research analysts predict that NatWest Group will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

NatWest Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.3899 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is an increase from NatWest Group's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.36. NatWest Group's dividend payout ratio is 55.88%.

Institutional Trading of NatWest Group

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

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.