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

NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,600,000 shares, a growth of 225.6% from the February 13th total of 1,720,000 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 4,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NatWest Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in NatWest Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,339,000. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of NatWest Group by 10.7% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 10,709,944 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,245,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031,057 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position 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 worth $32,982,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014,926 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted 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 acquiring an additional 944,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in NatWest Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,578,000. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NatWest Group Trading Down 0.2 %

NWG stock traded down $0.03 on Thursday, hitting $11.76. 2,508,625 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,821,151. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.22. The business's fifty day moving average is $10.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.12. NatWest Group has a twelve month low of $6.17 and a twelve month high of $12.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

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NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $4.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that NatWest Group will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

NatWest Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 represents a yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from NatWest Group's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. NatWest Group's dividend payout ratio is 55.88%.

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.

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