04:10 AM EDT, 06/11/2025 (MT Newswires) -- CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

Following its positive share price trajectory since our last update, we raise our 12-month target price for NWG to USD16 (from USD15), reflecting consensus P/B of 1.28x, above its five-year average P/B of 0.65x. The premium is justified in our view by the company's improving ROE profile. We leave our earnings per ADS forecasts unchanged. We believe our positive investment thesis for the company remains intact with improving profitability and attractive shareholder remuneration. On May 30, 2025, the U.K. government sold its final shares in NWG, marking the bank's full return to private ownership after 17 years. Looking forward, this could pave way for a more aggressive strategy. NWG now has the flexibility to spend surplus cash more imaginatively than through government share buybacks. With the rejected bid for Santander U.K. earlier in the year, NWG has also recently shown an increased appetite for M&A to strengthen its position in the U.K. banking sector.