The investment banking arm of Barclays has raised its price target for Natwest Group PLC to 400p and reiterated its 'overweight' stance on the stock, saying it continues to see 'significant upside' for the stock.
In a short note, which failed to provide the original target, Barclays also said earnings momentum for Natwest was 'turning positive' with a re-rating of the investment proposition buoyed by the exit of the UK government as a significant shareholder and its 'strongly growing' tangible net asset value.
Barclays' was one of two notes out on Thursday. The second was an initiation by Deutsche Bank, which said 'buy' with a price target of 345p.
It cited a 'structural hedge' of £300 million per quarter more than offsetting base rate cuts the impact of mortgage refinancing. As such, DB reckons margins will begin to improve in the second half.
In afternoon trading, the stock was moribund at 317p.