BNP Paribas Exane Upgrades NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) to Hold

NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) was upgraded by equities researchers at BNP Paribas Exane from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of NatWest Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of NatWest Group in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NatWest Group in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of NatWest Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NatWest Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

NatWest Group Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of NYSE:NWG opened at $16.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $66.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.42 and a 200-day moving average of $15.96. NatWest Group has a one year low of $10.40 and a one year high of $19.35.

NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.08. NatWest Group had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 13.05%. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.59 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NatWest Group will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NatWest Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in NatWest Group by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 40,912,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $715,964,000 after buying an additional 1,677,879 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of NatWest Group by 1.2% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,531,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,764,000 after acquiring an additional 156,832 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in NatWest Group by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 13,399,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,498,000 after acquiring an additional 494,472 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in NatWest Group by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,061,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, L1 Capital Pty Ltd acquired a new position in NatWest Group in the 2nd quarter worth $146,913,000. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.