NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday morning.

NWG has been the topic of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised NatWest Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on NatWest Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of NatWest Group in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research downgraded NatWest Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded NatWest Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

NatWest Group Price Performance

Shares of NWG opened at $19.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $17.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.65. NatWest Group has a fifty-two week low of $13.56 and a fifty-two week high of $19.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.90 billion, a PE ratio of 9.48, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.92.

NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. NatWest Group had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 14.01%. Equities analysts predict that NatWest Group will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NatWest Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.3222 dividend. This represents a yield of 340.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. NatWest Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.20%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NatWest Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in shares of NatWest Group by 5.8% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 349,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,169,000 after purchasing an additional 19,103 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. boosted its position in shares of NatWest Group by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 14,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 824 shares in the last quarter. 55 North Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NatWest Group in the 2nd quarter worth $246,000. Baron Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in NatWest Group by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $973,000 after buying an additional 7,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in NatWest Group by 15.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 3,210 shares during the last quarter. 1.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About NatWest Group

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.