London, Feb 23, 2026, 09:10 GMT — Regular session
- NatWest stock barely budged in London, sticking close to 616p.
- Recent filings indicate the bank has started another £750 million buyback.
- Investors keep an eye on the dividend schedule, while NatWest pushes ahead with its strategy to expand past lending.
NatWest Group Plc (NWG.L) barely budged on Monday, last quoted up 0.01% at roughly 615.7 pence in London. The shares moved between 613.4 and 623.4 pence during the session, compared with Friday’s 615.6 pence close. 1
Shares barely budged as investors weighed two big uncertainties: the scale of NatWest’s cash returns, and the pace at which it can ramp up fee generation beyond standard lending. In its latest annual results pack, released this month, the bank flagged £4.1 billion in planned distributions for 2025 and projected income between £17.2 billion and £17.6 billion for 2026. 2
NatWest on Monday named Ruari Phillips as head of venture & growth finance, moving closer to launching NatWest Venture Banking in April. Jenny Edwards, who leads the venture-banking unit, said the group aims to “back the innovators” as it rolls out the new division. 3
Right now, equity gains keep leaning hard on capital returns. According to a U.S. SEC filing from Feb. 20, NatWest repurchased 533,910 shares that day, scooping them up on both the London Stock Exchange and BATS Europe at volume-weighted average prices just over 622 pence per share. 4
NatWest kicked off its buyback program on Feb. 16, targeting up to £750 million, with plans to wrap it up by Jan. 15, 2027 at the latest. UBS is handling the trades on its own, without direction from the bank. NatWest said any shares it buys will be cancelled. 5
NatWest is pairing the buyback with its ambitions in wealth management. The bank, in a deal unveiled Feb. 9, said it would pay £2.7 billion enterprise value for Evelyn Partners and aims to close by summer 2026, pending regulatory sign-off. NatWest figures the acquisition will trim about 130 basis points—1.3 percentage points—from its CET1 ratio, the industry’s core capital metric. 6
Still, that price looms large. Jefferies analysts flagged a possible 2% drag on earnings per share through 2028. RBC Capital Markets’ Benjamin Toms described it as “transformational”—despite saying it’s more of a “bolt on” to what’s already there. 7
NatWest is pushing investors to look past the noise and focus on its core earnings. The bank logged a 24% jump in 2025 pretax profit to £7.7 billion, while also hiking its return on tangible equity target — a key profitability metric — to above 18% for 2028, up from over 15% set for 2027. CEO Paul Thwaite called the new goals “stretching” and said NatWest was “raising our ambition.” Barclays and Lloyds, meanwhile, have also raised their own return targets. 8
Traders are now circling dividend dates as well. According to Barclays’ dividend calendar, NatWest’s proposed final payout of 23.00 pence per share hits its ex-dividend date on March 19. The payment is slated for May 5. 9
Monday’s broader market action wasn’t much of a tailwind. After another round of tariff headlines, global markets calmed, but Wall Street futures and the dollar slipped, hit by muddled signals around fresh U.S. import levies. For bank stocks, that kind of macro distraction usually trickles down, especially on a slow news day. 10
NatWest shares have been unsettled since the middle of the month. On Feb. 20, the stock finished at 615.6 pence, slipping 0.26% for the session. It had started the day at 625.6 pence and briefly reached 627.0 pence, based on historical data from Investing.com. 11
Next up, investors are eyeing additional buyback announcements and waiting to see if shareholders sign off on the final dividend when NatWest holds its annual general meeting April 28. The stock goes ex-dividend March 19. 12
