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 5,632,803 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 66% from the previous session’s volume of 3,402,328 shares.The stock last traded at $13.20 and had previously closed at $13.02.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NWG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of NatWest Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of NatWest Group in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Peel Hunt downgraded NatWest Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NatWest Group has an average rating of “Buy”.

NatWest Group Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.03. 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 company has a market capitalization of $53.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.01.

NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.80 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NatWest Group plc will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NatWest Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.3899 per share. 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 was Friday, March 14th. NatWest Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in NatWest Group by 374.5% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NatWest Group in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in NatWest Group in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in NatWest Group by 161.4% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,787 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in NatWest Group during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.