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

NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 2,228,659 shares, a growth of 84.5% from the September 15th total of 1,207,880 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 3,277,619 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.7 days.

NatWest Group Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE:NWG traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $17.52. 4,461,307 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,969,399. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.59 billion, a PE ratio of 8.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.94. NatWest Group has a 12-month low of $13.76 and a 12-month high of $19.42. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $18.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.27.

NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. The business 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that NatWest Group will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NatWest Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.3222 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 337.0%. This is a decrease from NatWest Group’s previous dividend of $0.6210. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. NatWest Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of NatWest Group by 1,484.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 4,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 4,425 shares during the period. Riversedge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NatWest Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $241,000. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new stake in NatWest Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $192,000. Athena Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in NatWest Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $295,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in NatWest Group by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 25,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,270 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NWG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded NatWest Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Barclays raised NatWest Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded NatWest Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised NatWest Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Berenberg Bank began coverage on NatWest Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NatWest Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

NatWest Group Company Profile

NatWest Group plc is a United Kingdom-based banking and financial services company. Through brands including NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland and Coutts, it provides banking and financial solutions to individuals, families, businesses and institutional clients.

The group’s activities include personal and premier banking, current and savings accounts, residential mortgages, consumer lending, credit cards, wealth management, business banking, commercial lending, transaction services and investment banking.