NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG) Short Interest Up 37.8% in December

NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG) saw a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,493,520 shares, an increase of 37.8% from the December 15th total of 1,083,994 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,566,283 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days. Currently, 0.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Currently, 0.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,566,283 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NatWest Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NatWest Group by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 39,234,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $555,166,000 after purchasing an additional 1,702,930 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in NatWest Group by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,531,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,764,000 after purchasing an additional 156,832 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in NatWest Group by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 12,905,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $182,611,000 after purchasing an additional 851,997 shares in the last quarter. L1 Capital Pty Ltd acquired a new position in NatWest Group during the second quarter worth $146,913,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NatWest Group by 7.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,474,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,181,000 after buying an additional 455,538 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on NWG shares. Zacks Research lowered NatWest Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NatWest Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of NatWest Group in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of NatWest Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

NatWest Group Price Performance

Shares of NWG stock traded up $0.38 on Friday, hitting $17.52. 2,663,110 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,857,474. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. NatWest Group has a 12 month low of $10.17 and a 12 month high of $18.19. The stock has a market cap of $70.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $16.79 and a 200 day moving average of $15.19.

NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 24th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $5.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.63 billion. NatWest Group had a return on equity of 12.77% and a net margin of 18.18%. On average, equities research analysts predict that NatWest Group will post 1.35 EPS for the current year.

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.