Natwest Share Chat (NWG)

Reported

Https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/berenberg-flags-15-annual-returns-for-uk-banks-names-one-top-pick-4757376

Excellent bit of research hardup. Well done.

Wonder why they've curtailed the buybacks. Their CETI ratio will take a goodly hit following this Evelyn purchase, probably close to 150 bps, so maybe they didn't want to knock it back further with more buybacks until the effects of that have fully factored in. As we've discussed on here previously, NWG have excess capital coming out of their ears, following years of government forced asset sales post 2008, and the FCA are currently just in the process of relaxing banks' capital requirements to encourage more lending as in the US, so a continuation of the buyback programme shouldn't be a problem.

Hadn't appreciated they'd still got all that potential buyback cash still to go............hopefully, all will be revealed in 3 weeks time.

Thanks for this (genuinely) I didn't even realise!

Good information

I have noticed there have been no shares purchased by the buyback since the 11th June? The closing SP on the 11th June was around 587p. The SP then gapped up on 12th June to 614p, and has trended up from that point to current level. It looks like this spike up on the 12th June and continued trend up in SP since then has triggered pre-set algo parameters that set criteria which dictates when shares can be purchased, which has resulted in a pause in the buyback of shares? I have been monitoring the progress of this buyback since it commenced on 16/02/2026 and my calculations say that the cumulative cost to date is about £294,632,587.11, which is 39.3% of the £750,000,000 buyback pot, so there is plenty left in the buyback kitty to spend.

Good range of forecast options there lads.....all feasible. That's what makes a market, as we used to say. Well done.

One certainty is that NWG now represents one of the market's best income stocks, which are ideal for old codgers like me in funding a few of late life's delights.

Still genuinely baffled by the rating disparity between NWG and Loyds. Assuming our friend pays out 36p this year, its forward yield is 5.5% at 660p.

Lloyds consesus divI forecast is 4.2p for this year.........let's be generous and assume 4.5p, giving a forward yield of 4.0%. a near 30% discount. You would need to buy 8 Lloyds shares at a cost of £9 to get the same cash divi of NWG.

Put another way, if NWG were on the same forward yield as Lloyds, its sp would be 9 quid.

Can't figure it out.........maybe a throw back to Fred the Shred, but its 20 years since Fred shredded this. Anyway, that's what makes a market, as we used to say.

Anybody been watching our lad Arthur at Wimbledon..........bloody fantastic.........Stay out of the sun lads.

I’m still bullish and going for 36p but hoping for a hefty 37p for the full year..

If 36p, Split 10.5p/25.5p

I think it's along the lines of a 10 to 11 p divy.

I would love more though.

Possible dividend cuts after announcement, director sells all bad news on the horizon

Interim divi.............12p best guestimate, maybe 12.5p if results are really good. Anything over that would be a wow factor, but attract a lot of attention from press and our new political overlords, so asking for trouble (screams for increased bank tax levy etc).

Recent update on Evelyn acquisition was positive, suggesting good allround figs and trading statement likely,but expect the usual qualifier about 'uncertain and difficult economic prospects ahead' which all managements see the need to pump out in our present times and which the press will fall on.

A 12p interim would put us in line for 24p final and 36p total full year divi.against 32.5p total for 2025, an increase of around 11%.

Sorry I tried, you're just a troll.

Filtered for good this time so I don't have to see your drivel.

So Trump announced the day before the world cup started that an agreement had been reached with Iran on signing an MOA. Then 1 day after the US is knocked out of the world cup he launch's multiple attacks on Iran and says the ceasefire is over. Hmm indeed!!

Agreed, you don't even know who's telling the truth!

Who knows with 2 countries who you cant 2nd guess wot they are going to do .

Thoughts on tomorrow? I feel like US-Iran may push this down first thing...thoughts?

A nice steady upward plod will do us fine.

Still marching on towards our 52 wk high but lloy now hitting them daily now. Come on England & NWG

I stayed up and went to be around 4am, was a mad game, just glad they didn't equalise!

Well i got to bed early & got to watch the last 40 minutes ! wow wow glad I got some shut eye as I would never be able to get back to sleep . Had a brandy & Cigar this morning just to calm my Nerves ! Me thinks the world cup will give us another push to our target new 52 wk high ! Made up for our Rugby boys getting crushed Saturday .

Been enjoying watching SPCX which will launch on the Nasdaq soon so looking forward to that but also had a punt on MSTR when it dropped to around 85 . A bit unlike me as this is crypto strategy business but it seems to be doing fine since I bought in . I am also hovering over the trigger for XRP just so i can keep up with the kids ! But with you knight i am more focussed on yield in my old age but SP rises are always welcome !

I agree but the sub £6 was due to the Iran war amongst other things (in my opinion).

It dropped to £6.30 due to buying Evelyn, if we see that it's bolstered the bottom line, we could see a push north! (I hope)

Henley , I like the cut of your jib dead ! But yep +700 coming hard & fast but once a new 52 wk high achieved its only natural to see people take some profit however this time there aint much about to move into with better upscale potential. Thats my take anyway . PS have a port or two for me !

Some strong buying momentum behind this stock now,especially against the current shambolic political backdrop. Surprising but encouraging.

Surely it's going to clear £7 this time over the results. However, don't forget the last two sets of figures, which both exceeded market expectations, were followed by vicious sell-offs. Their superb year end figs, in Feb, were greeted with an sp clobbering which saw the price down from 700p )briefly) to well below 6 quid................will this time be different ???.

Off to Henley for a couple of days giving my liver a battering lads, so I look forward to your views on return.

Knight more like the Kursal mate ! Stayed in the Camelia but yep a nice few days

Glad you're having fun! I don't love too far from there currently.

Used to go Adventure Island as a child 😂

Inge/Quilp? Guy needs a hobby

Heads up all he's back on some boards latest name is @GeorgeOak noticed him on SPCX board he should fit in ok on that one but as he is showing 33 posts I assume he is slowly posting his trash far and wide.

Hey quip maybe so but not before we have made a good few quid. Quip you got your proverbial sandwich board on ! Oh yae oh yae.

''please carry on folks and drown out the lunatics who seem to have settled on NWG's board.''

Notdeadyet

I don't think your perambulations should include a missive centred on Councillor WhiteKnight. Yes, he is a more than a little eccentric, and yes he is vulnerable to throwing his dolls out of his pram, Indeed one might even suggest he is just plain weird - but one has to draw a line at calling him a lunatic. Besides he has a medical condition, he can't help it.

Don't worry Councillor, we have your back, though you might want to go easy on the Fentanyl.

FTSE to fall below 10,000 before November. And where the FTSE follows........

Hopefully my comments are ok, I understand the basics but I don't process for have the same knowledge as others on here

Good to hear from you Lucky. As a lifelong Liverpool supporter, you'll appreciate how desperate I am to get a return of common sense tinged with some humour, to this board in the form of your amusing banter, even if it includes the odd C Palace story (all our trading floor dealers were fanatical 'Hammers' supporters in my day, so I ofter got dragged to Upton Park, their old ground, which is all flats now, and never made it to Palace.)

We have some good contributors on here, please carry on folks and drown out the lunatics who seem to have settled on NWG's board.

Yes, the interims should be good, to very good, depending on how cautious the management aim to be whilst all these political antics are in play.

I'm looking for 37p of divi this year, so they need to declare an interim of 12p (roughly one third of the total) to make that a probability.

dead you beat me to it ! it reminds me of the good old days in the city on my trading floor when an economist used to turn up talking ****e they would get the cold shoulder but when a compliance person wandered in they would be put in stocks & bad fruit thrown at them well if we had any stocks that is ! nwg is becoming bullet proof again, 31st july 2nd qtr & interim results are going to be very interesting i suggest.

I think 8 would be enough to tempt me to sell.dont know where better to put the money tho

Lucky, Ode to joy...I didn't mind it until I realised it's the EU's "national anthem"...

I have just had to pay £75 to move all the shares I bought back in Jan to my ISA.

Mind you... If I'd left it in the savings account I'd have made £180! nearly £2k up on that purchase so can't grumble too much!

I know I said I wouldn't sell before £10 but if this gets near £8 I might have to diversify... Will be pushing a decent sum.

Dodgy mushroom yep must admit i dint think we would move to + 650 so soon but very much welcomed. As i have said this is when your re-invested divis start to work for their keep .

Moving up well now, push on towards the high £6 to £7

Starmer resigned with ode to joy playing int the background, priceless ! Euphoria will only last a few days as prob more of the same !

Interesting reaction from bank shares to Starmer's resignation today. I know we're starting the run-up to interim results season, which will be very good, but this is still surprising.

Clearly, market currently not bothered about extra bank taxes from an increasingly left leaning government.

Burnham urgently needs economic growth to stand any chance of avoiding a mass slaughter of his 400 MP's in the next GE (2 years time) and 'banker bashing' is not the right approach.

JP Morgan has already said they will pull their planned new development (6000 new jobs) in Canary Wharf if there is a whiff of extra bank taxes and there must be an increasing prospect of the Far East banks increasing their exposure to London, given China's latest moves on restricting capital movement. An anti bank environment is not going to swing it. Don't forget, our economic model relies almost entirely on bank funding for corporate expansion...contrast the USA model, which is stock market driven, using IPO's and venture capital.......you might have noticed Mr Musk has just raised a few hundred $billion from markets and not batted an eyelid. It was once possible to do that sort of thing here 40 years ago.

Banker bashing has been good fun for politicians of all parties, since '08, but this is not the time to do it.

So, NWG reaching 7 quid by the interims - any takers ??.

Agreement looks close! Enjoy your weekend and fingers crossed another journey North!

@luckylurker

SPCX up 20% right now…

Good end to the week for bank stocks here and in the US market today. Most pundits now expecting probable interest rate increases from both the Fed and BoE, if not next week, then fairly soon. Contrast that with 100% expectations of at least 2 cuts at the start of the year. What a turnaround.

I've learnt my lesson and am in hardup's camp about getting over enthusiastic, so we'll see what next week brings, but conditions are right now for this sector to produce cracking results and divi payouts.

Good week-end to all.

Makerfield sort of an APT name but sure recent military & defence probs in the last 24 hours is going to hurt Burnham in this local . But the bright star of Labour vs a Plumber just makes me smile ! Nasdaq opens in 30 minutes or so !

Keeping my feet firmly on the ground with todays rise because events seem to be following the familiar Trump pump "a deal is close" late in the week boosting markets only for the optimism to fade away over the weekend.But fingers crossed anyway! Iran war asides, there are other events next week which also have the potential to be very influential on US and UK markets. FED interest rate setting meeting Tuesday and Wednesday, and BoE MPC interest rate setting meeting on Thursday 18th. And we also have the Makerfield by-election on Thursday as well!

Hardup just got this form H&L

As per the Allocation Policy for UK retail, investors in the Retail Offer who applied for up to 20 shares have been allocated in full, rounded down to the nearest whole Share.

Allocations were capped at 1,000 shares. This means if you applied for more than 1,000 shares, the maximum you could receive is 1,000. If you applied for more than 20 shares you were allocated 21.13% of your excess application up to the maximum of 1,000 shares.

Allocations are determined by the issuer and not Hargreaves Lansdown

Always one 😂

Agreed.

WhightKnight, There is no pulling with gravity, masses just follow the bending of space-time. But alas I think a drop here and elsewhere is due to the Spacex share start, its BIG, 1.5 trillion or something like that. I am sure in time Naty will recover.

Not a problem Whight........nothing wrong with a bit of pleasant banter in these troubled times.

You should hear some of the things my kids say to me............always costs them a large round of drinks !!.

Cheers.

Just completed my spacex request went for £8k in the end ,wonder wot i will get . Had to speak to my brokers about something & they said the phones have been crazy with spacex queries for the last few days so bodes well. But its def oversubscribed but just by how much who knows.

Sorry if that comment came across rude, was just teasing, I knew exactly what you meant!

I just like to have a laugh

you should live in crystal palace prophet its one of the hilliest places in london, i do a slow plod uphill every day but welcome to my world. looks like my t20 at the oval will be cancelled tomorrow with this weather & not looking good for saturday for the derby either as booked on a open top bus , went last year & it was carnage as ****ed down all day . oh well looking like nwg may end up the correct side of 600 by end of play so not all bad !

I will take a relentless upward plod any day !

I think the next divy date is 6th Aug

Correction to my last........599.4p

Final price at the closing auction was 598.2p?

Its a win Knight my re-investment divis already paying me back in spades. Had a few liveners with the golden oldies this afternoon & tried to get rid of a few £50 notes I got from someone who owed me a few quid . Anyone tried to get rid of a £50 note recently, you would have thought I had robbed a bank even in my local . Treated everyone as they were Palace fans & I was the youngest amongst the bunch. My pub featured on the BBC london yesterday but thankfully my drunken self did not appear on the screen ! Good weekend all

Robbo Thats how investing starts baby steps I was hooked after the british telecom IPO. I remember filling in about 30 applications in my families & friends ! Made a killing but hard work back in those days !

Aha 500 wasn't all invested at beginning it's just a simple £100 for each birthday and Christmas. In a few years then it will become more interesting as I will be able to start moving larger sum. It's just a nice little side interest to hopefully help out longer term

Robbo if you had invested that £500 in NWG then it would be worth around £1,000; see chart on here for 2 year outcome. Good luck, JJ

I have decided to invest a small amount of cash £100 as birthday and Christmas presents for Grandchild I'm sure many others do something similar, various other family members supply him with more toys and clothes than needed. I have currently switched his money into NWG happy to leave it here for a few years nice dividend and good chance of capital gain. As I have a 20ish year investment plan any ideas on that timeframe would be welcome. I initially started with a Vanguard US500 index tracker probably should have left it there but may switch back if that index drops from its highs. As to performance £500 has been turned into just over £610 in 2 years if I could keep that going would be a nice sum by age 21

Wright & Bright were an amazing pair for CP Quip but this team will be the one everyone will be talking about for the next few years . But too old for these type of celebrations i witnessed last night . I should have taken advice to stay at home & watch at home with a few glasses of wine or something . I feel i have aged 10 years overnight this morning ! Oh well another topsy turvy day but still glad all over !

Quilp are you Inge's alt?

Barring the (midly amusing) digs at me that was actually a well rounded post...

I don't care if someone disagrees with me, I just want to be able to discuss things normally.

There is a chance that NatWest goes to nil (albeit lower than winning the lottery).

I don't think I've ever said it will definitely hit £7, I hope it will, I hope it goes further!

I agree with Starmer, he's the best of a bad bunch and I hope for a quick end to Trump's war but who knows what's around the corner or even tomorrow as the past quarter has shown us!

Also just for you, I had a Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy, apparently there was a compication so ended up on a drain for 24 hours which sucked.

The only good news is that my gallbladder hasn't functioned in any capacity for a few years so the adaptation time is minimal.

Still in pain but trying to get on with life!

How's that for an olive branch, can we (please) be normal now in conversation?!

Councillor WhiteKnight exacting and affording yet another reason why many on here believe him to be suffering from prefrontal cortex dysfunction. Either that or his piles are playing up again.

I have never said I would close my account if the share price was to hit £6. Here I am, unlike Councillor Whiteknight who had a melt down ( or was it a paddy ) when the shareprice went south. Then he tried to forge a sicknote.

I will eat humble pie if the shareprice hits £7 this year. I will even resign my position on the board if you wish me to do so. Heck Councillor Whiteknight you could even call for a motion of no confidence in Quilp.

Yes, I see why you and others would call for £7 plus, but there are just too many reasons why this won't be allowed to happen. The illegal United States of Israel war on Iran has to stop, and like him or loathe him ( I loathe him ) Starmer has to stay put for a while longer. Then and only then might we break bread together.

Good luck to Palace tonight, I still remember when they had Wright and Bright upfront. Wow there was nothing those two boys couldn't do back in the early 90's. - There, an outbreak of peace, love and understanding, though don't believe for one moment that I believe you have filtered me. We all know you haven't.

For the avoidance of any doubt, I will never take pleasure in anyone losing money, even you Councillor.

GLA

Cheers Chaps Hope 600 sticks today ! But Pub seems my best bet. Thats me watching the market finished for the day.

Good luck with tonight! I saw you guys play a couple of weeks ago Vs Brentford, was hoping they'd win for Europe.

Met the legend that is Roy Hodgson who is a total gent.

I'm hoping now we've hit £6 instead of the promised £4 quid and his alt have closed their account as they promised but I doubt it.

Come on, over you go :)

Crossed £6 PARTY TIME

Potential Divy

NatWest paid a final dividend of 23p per share for the 2025 financial year in May 26, bringing the full-year 2025 payout to 32.5p. Analysts forecast the full-year dividend for 2026 to rise, with expectations ranging between 36.0p and 37.0p per share as the bank targets returning around 50% of its attributable profit to shareholders.

Would be nice for us simple folk...

Hopefully in June! Who's in?

Worked against Japan Colin ! But we cant control the USA or trump we have worse things to worry about here at home . LLoy board will be bleating on about trump all day i would imagine !

Missile attacks are a funny way of signing a peace treaty

Might do when NWG hits £10 in a few years!

Might be a long few years... I am so glad someone told me about filters on here!

Pushing back towards £6, if Andy Burnham loses the by election and Trump and Iran finally do a deal I can only see this going up.

Hopefully north of (conservatively) £6.50 by the end of the year, the optimist in me hopes for closer to £8 though (which is probably wildly overestimating the potential).

Either way dividends are decent and I'll keep adding.

Anyone going for a punt on spacex ? I am going to give it a go , its going ot make my grandkids rich or my kids slightly poorer when i pop off ! You cant take it with you quip !

Got to the local just in time quip , that new free flow pill I take works a bit too well sometimes ! Hopefully Iran is a done deal ,Also a LLOy holder so I watch both and as a whole they have tracked quite similar this year so far especially the last 3 months .

Following today’s Reuters and Sky news about loosening the post-crisis ring-fencing rules, we are likely looking at a solid catalyst for UK banks. While it won't impact this year's numbers, forward-looking analyst models should start revising outer-year EPS upwards. BARC and NWG have the most structural friction to shed here, making them prime candidates for price target upgrades. No clue about the immediate share price volatility, but for the longer term, it should be a great catalyst.

This is probably the best bank share in the UK.

Just sit back & relax

Even the management are dumping shares, not a good sign for the future

Interesting that J P Morgan's CEO has said today that he will cancel his bank's planned brand new £3bn Canary Wharf HQ if there is any indication of higher bank taxes emerging from current political instability.

He announced this project last November, the day after Reeves' budget, when she ducked out of increasing the bank tax additional levy, so more than a coincidence, suggesting the two had a quiet dialogue together on the subject. The announcement suggested the project would create 8000 new city jobs and boost the financial services economy by around £10bn.

Just one reaction from a major overseas bank, before HSBC, S & C and Santader et al chip in. Financial services accounts for around one third of UK total GDP, so its a brave politician the roughs this sector up...................

I used to be a local councillor near Ilford and Epping was always staunch Conservative but Ilford isn't the same mindset.

They may get an independent MP instead but I do not expect Reform to do well there, I could be wrong!

"...there is, currently, no viable alternative to Starmer,..." Big Angie "Hold my alcopop"

Agreed Whight...Wes is a sharp, young Essex lad on the make and a true champagne socialist in the making, so unlikely to upset the City........two problems with him.....his majority in Ilford North is a miniscule 528, so in a general election, in the current mood of the nation, he'd get slaughtered, probably by anyone who Reform put up, including mickey mouse !!.

Secondly, in his formative years with the labour party, as a young sprog, he was very close to Mandelson, which probably seemed sensible at the time, but doesn't look too clever now. Imagine the digging the Daily Mail would gleefully do on that, if he ever got the top job.

Herein lies the awful problem.....much as it irks me to admit it, there is, currently, no viable alternative to Starmer, which indicates how low, in political terms, we've come. Hence I arrive at the odds on bet that, for the moment, bank profits look fairly safe and increasingly attractive.

If interest rates stay put, of even rise later this year, NWG will absolutely cream it. Interesting dilemma !!.

The only one of the main Labour group I would think wouldn't be awful is Wes Streeting.

Angela Rayner owes her tax still

Lammy is awful and so are the rest 😂😭

I haven't a clue what the clown said.

He said this would hit £4 and under £5 but I've yet to see it.

My average is around £1.50-1.70 so I'm well in the black and will earn 25% a year on my initial investment.

You can keep talking rubbish, amen to filters. No doubt he'll make another account soon!

I think the 2 Ronnies are more our thing quip !

WhiteKnight

''They only come out when this share is going down by multiple percentage points''

Wrong again Whiteknight. You are luckylurker are like the chuckle brothers. Anyone following your investment advice would now be sitting down under a pair of traffic lights with an empty coffee cup.

I said the share price would go below £5.50 and it did. I said the FTSE will go below 10,000 and it will. What have you contributed ? A sick note from your GP and a spare pair of underpants when the share price headed towards £5

I wish you could have heard my pub when forest got trounced by Villa. But if your a top 5 club you will never get fined or have points dropped. Palace know that only too well . Nice bounce today but looking to buy back into BP by thursday so looking for some big rises with NWG for some added value.

They only come out when this share is going down by multiple percentage points.

Off up to Sheffield to meet a football club then onto York and Middlesbrough for meetings but it's great to see an uptick today.

Especially as Trump is doing his level best to do the opposite!

We had a good slice of luck last night but all in all I thought it was a foul.

Two more wins and we are guaranteed at least a trophy!

Hopefully Forest, Arsenal and Palace winning Europe and Leeds beat Spurs and lose to West Ham. That would potentially be the best season ever 😂

Scratch that, hopefully City get relegated with their 115 charges and both Spurs and West Ham stay up!

My NWG shares on Ii , dividend received middle of the 6th auto reinvest on 7th

A penny out!…

UK domestic banks held “buy” ratings across the board at Jefferies, even as the sector de-rated more than 15% since January despite earnings upgrades of similar magnitude, with political uncertainty over a potential Labour leadership change weighing on share prices.

Jefferies raised medium-term earnings per share forecasts by roughly 5%, lifting terminal base rate and five-year swap rate assumptions to 3.5% from the start of 2027, up 25 basis points from prior estimates set in February, though still 50-75 basis points below the current yield curve.

Barclays saw its price target raised to 590p from 570p, while NatWest Group was trimmed to 730p from 750p and OneSavings Bank cut to 700p from 780p. Lloyds Banking Group held at 125p and Paragon Banking Group was lowered to 1,000p from 1,060p. All five carry "buy" ratings.

The structural hedge tailwind remained a central pillar of the bull case. Domestic banks ran a combined hedge notional of £684 billion in Q1 2026, generating a yield of 2.80% against five-year forward rates averaging 4.49%, a gap that Jefferies said could add roughly 40% to current profits, or 7 percentage points to return on tangible equity. Q1 2026 sector ROTE reached 16%.

Private sector credit growth accelerated to 4.9% year-on-year through March 2026, with large non-financial corporate lending rising a "staggering" 11% and three-month annualised growth hitting 6.5%, according to Bank of England data cited in the report.

Mortgage lending was up 3% year-on-year and SME lending rose 3.7%, ending 45 consecutive months of net repayments.

The Bank of England’s Scenario C, which assumed Brent crude peaking at $130 per barrel and sustaining above $100 through late 2028, showed UK GDP growth remaining positive throughout, bottoming at 0.3% in Q1 2027, with unemployment peaking at 5.7%.

Jefferies said that implied only a roughly 10 basis point increase in sector write-off rates and a mid-single digit profit impact.

Jefferies said the bigger concern was political. "Tail risks associated with the War combined with the potential for a significant lurch of government to the left after May elections is limiting appetite from new investors," the brokerage said.

Betting markets placed Angela Rayner at 25% and Andy Burnham at 22% as most likely next Labour leader, while a 41% probability was assigned to Starmer’s exit occurring between July and September 2026.

Jefferies said it now considered a bank surcharge increase "more likely than not," estimating a roughly 2 percentage point rise would reduce sector profits by 2-3%.

Forecast distribution yields of roughly 13% in 2027 and roughly 15% in 2028, combined with buyback programmes, Barclays and Lloyds each expected to repurchase a further £2 billion of stock within eight months, underpinned the case for holding the sector through near-term noise. Barclays was preferred near-term; Lloyd 6-12month timescale

Bloody Halifax just updated my drip so down a few points vs other trading accounts ! But happy with my lot & the largest dividend I have ever received from NWG mainly as i moved a lot of my BP holding before x date. But all good . Dont forget to vote tomorrow if you live in one of those areas denied a vote by these blithering idiots in charge. Once current events calm down who knows wot height NWG will achieve. Mind you currently I am more concerned about Russia losing the war & Putins demise , but before he accidently falls out of a window he will do something particular crazy 1st.

Quite right LoggyLogbot,

I remember thinking exactly the same when I bought here and NWG was completely out of favour. The share price on open was down 16% after not bad results. Back in late October 2023. And just look at the share price appreciation since. The fact I've had 38% of my initial outlay returned back to me through dividends, in five payments (2.5 years), I doubt can be even equalled, let alone bettered. A few small pullbacks along the way but the fundamentals just keep on getting stronger. I've been running my 'fair value' here since that time. Last call was £7.10. But, since the alteration in the outlook for interest rates, it's now up to £7.31. Outside forces allowing, it'll get there. The rotation in NWG bonds is expected to add £1.5b to income alone in 2026. "In the FTSE 100, few companies offer a better combination of a high dividend yield and a strong margin of safety. While some stocks have higher raw yields, NatWest's expected 6.64% (38p @ 572p) yield is unusually well-covered by earnings (approx. 2.2 X cover) making it one of the most robust and sustainable income plays in the index for 2026."

Guess who didn't get their dividends until after closing yesterday 😂😭

"This share has almost fallen 25% since February."

February - you mean you picked a month which has the 52 week high, and just before the start of a major war, for the base price to work from?

"People are still quoting analysts' forecasts like they actually mean someting. Talk of £8 when the share price is in freefall ! What madness is that ?"

The price, along with most other stocks, is fluctuating erratically during the conflict(s) we are witnessing. These analyst quotes are clearly based on fundamentals but would only be attainable in a better macro environment. Talking about it is good, it shows forward planning - buying now with hope that the Middle East situation settles. I bought LLOY during Covid which worked out well. There are absolutely no guarantees but I am optimistic that my purchases between 5.40 & 5.90 will end up over the years strongly 'up'.