NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Shares of NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $12.55 and last traded at $12.52, with a volume of 3487770 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $12.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, BNP Paribas cut NatWest Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

NatWest Group Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $50.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $10.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.01.

NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NatWest Group plc will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NatWest Group Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position 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 worth $113,072,000 after acquiring an additional 408,239 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of NatWest Group by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,322,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,473,000 after purchasing an additional 216,053 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of NatWest Group by 25.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,712,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,924,000 after buying an additional 944,464 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 10,755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings 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 period. 1.27% of the stock is 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.