The Treasury has further sold off publicly-owned shares in NatWest Group PLC (LSE:NWG) after solid results and Paul Thwaite’s permanent appointment as chief executive prompted gains last week.
Some 1.4% of the bank’s shares were sold off on Monday, taking the taxpayer’s ownership stake from 34.96% to 33.56%.
This comes as the government prepares to launch a retail share sale of its stake in the bank later this year, acquired through a bailout of NatWest during the global financial crisis.
UBS upgraded NatWest’s share price target to 265p on Monday meanwhile, marking a prospective rise of 15% on Friday’s close, as analysts highlighted the lender’s “attractive valuation”.
“Many we spoke to on results day believe that the NatWest public offer, which appears likely in the coming months, means near-term guidance is conservative,” analysts said.
NatWest shares were swapping for 226p at the time of writing, up around 9% week on week.