Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lowered its stake in NatWest Group plc (NYSE:NWG) by 24.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,133 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,803 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in NatWest Group were worth $154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in NatWest Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,339,000. ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in NatWest Group during the 4th quarter valued at $9,578,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in NatWest Group by 1,506.7% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 750,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,630,000 after buying an additional 703,534 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in NatWest Group by 499.0% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 812,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,268,000 after acquiring an additional 677,222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of NatWest Group by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 11,118,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,072,000 after acquiring an additional 408,239 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

NatWest Group Stock Performance

Shares of NWG opened at $13.01 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.90. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $52.39 billion, a PE ratio of 9.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.93. NatWest Group plc has a one year low of $7.80 and a one year high of $13.18.

NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.80 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that NatWest Group plc will post 1.35 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.3899 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from NatWest Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.36. NatWest Group’s payout ratio is 56.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

NatWest Group Profile

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.