How to buy, sell and short NatWest shares

How to buy or invest in NatWest shares

If you think the NatWest share price is going to rise, you can either buy or invest in the company’s shares.

Buying NatWest shares involves trading on the share price with derivatives like spread bets and contracts for difference (CFDs). This doesn’t mean that you’ll own the underlying asset – you’re merely predicting what you think the NatWest share price will do in the future. If you think it will go up, you’ll buy shares. This is called ‘going long’.

When you invest in NatWest shares, you’re purchasing the actual shares and become a shareholder in the company. With investing, you can only make a profit if the share price increases. If it decreases, you’ll cut a loss.

A major advantage of trading derivatives is that you can open a position with just a portion of the total value of the trade. This is known as leverage.

If you want to invest in or buy NatWest shares, follow these steps:

How much would it cost to invest in NatWest?

Want our best commission? Just make three or more trades in a month to get it.

If you don’t want to invest in NatWest shares directly, you can always trade its share price with spread bets and CFDs instead. This will allow you to:

• Get full exposure with a small deposit – usually just 20%-25% of the full value of the trade¹
• Spread bet without paying tax on your profits²
• Hedge your positions with CFDs and offset losses against potential profits²

Open an account now to get started

How to sell or short NatWest shares

If you think the NatWest share price is going to fall, you can short-sell the company’s shares with spread bets and CFDs. This is known as ‘going short’. If you speculate correctly, you’ll make a profit.

If you’ve already invested in NatWest shares, there may come a time when you want to sell them. If the share price is higher than what you paid for them, you’ll make a profit. If it’s lower, you’ll incur a loss.

You can transfer your existing electronic shares to us for free,³ enabling you to sell them via our easy-to-use share dealing platform.

Here’s how to sell or short NatWest shares with IG:

NatWest’s live market prices

NatWest shares: the basics

National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, was formed in 1968 through the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, the bank joined The Royal Bank of Scotland Group – now called the NatWest Group following a July 2020 rebrand.

The NatWest Group is headquartered in Edinburgh with offices around the world – UK, Ireland, Europe, Asia Pacific and the United States. It has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). You’ll find it listed under the ‘NWG’ ticker.

NatWest Group has multiple subsidiary brands: NatWest, RBS, Ulster Bank, Coutts, Adam & Company, Child & Co., Drummonds, Holt’s Military Banking, Isle of Man Bank, Lombard, RBS International, NatWest Markets and FreeAgent.

The company’s share price dropped sharply in 2020, given the challenging economic environment caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The graph below shows the steep share price decline.

What is NatWest’s business model?

NatWest offers commercial and retail banking services to businesses and individuals across the globe. The company also provides free accounting software to small businesses with its FreeAgent brand.

In recent years NatWest has turned its attention to matters of sustainability:

• Sustainability in banking: NatWest is a founding signatory to the United Nations (UN) Principles for Responsible Banking, and has committed to aligning with the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals
• Environmental sustainability: the company aims to achieve full carbon neutrality this year and wants to be climate positive by 2025

NatWest key personnel: who manages the company?

NatWest’s executive management team consists of 18 members:

How to analyse NatWest’s share price

If you want to trade or invest in NatWest shares, you’ll first want to analyse the company’s share price. You can do this with fundamental and technical analysis.

Fundamental analysis examines macroeconomic factors and helps you determine if shares are over- or underpriced. In NatWest’s case, you would look at major events that have impacted the company over the past year (ie the coronavirus pandemic and the Brexit transition).

You can use the following metrics to conduct fundamental analysis on NatWest shares:

• Price-to-earnings ratio (P/E ratio)
• Return on equity (ROE)
• Earnings per share (EPS)

Technical analysis uses historical price data and technical indicators to determine what the market will do in the future. The following indicators are popular with traders:

• Parabolic stop and reverse (SAR)
• Moving averages
• Relative strength index (RSI)

It’s important to use both types of analysis when making a decision to go long or short on NatWest shares.

Buying NatWest shares summed up

• If you think the NatWest share price will increase, invest in the company directly or buy shares with derivatives
• If you think the NatWest share price will decrease, sell your existing shares or short-sell them with derivatives
• You can trade NatWest shares using derivatives like spread bets and CFDs. This enables you to take a position without owning any underlying assets
• Transfer your existing electronic NatWest shares to us for free³
• The Royal Bank of Scotland Group changed its name to the NatWest Group in July 2020
• Use fundamental and technical analysis to determine whether you should go long or short when opening a position on NatWest

Footnotes

¹ Deposits on leveraged trades are 20%-25% for 99.14% of tier-one shares (correct as of 1 June 2020). For more information, view our share trading margin rates.
² Tax laws are subject to change and depend on individual circumstances. Tax law may differ in a jurisdiction other than the UK.
³ Physical share dematerialisation fee is £100 (inclusive of VAT) per certificate. Electronic shares are transferred free of charge. IG SIPPs are administered by James Hay, who charge a £205 annual fee and may charge for transferring investments not currently held in a SIPP. You may be out of the market for a period while your transfer takes place.