NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday . Approximately 4,721,530 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 66% from the previous session’s volume of 2,848,249 shares.The stock last traded at $11.57 and had previously closed at $11.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NWG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Peel Hunt lowered NatWest Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of NatWest Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

NatWest Group Stock Up 4.8 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.98 and a 200-day moving average of $10.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $47.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.22.

NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $4.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.75 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that NatWest Group plc will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

NatWest Group Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NatWest Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of NatWest Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,339,000. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in NatWest Group by 10.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 10,709,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,245,000 after buying an additional 1,031,057 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in NatWest Group by 45.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,243,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,982,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014,926 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 944,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in shares of NatWest Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,578,000. Institutional investors own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

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.