Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company.

A number of equities analysts have commented on SAN shares. DZ Bank cut shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Zacks Research cut Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 67.5% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,529,024 shares of the bank’s stock worth $149,504,000 after purchasing an additional 5,856,034 shares during the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 22.0% during the second quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 14,482,986 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $120,209,000 after acquiring an additional 2,607,392 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 8.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,844,029 shares of the bank’s stock worth $134,605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,811 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Banco Santander by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 9,211,673 shares of the bank’s stock worth $96,538,000 after buying an additional 1,568,515 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Banco Santander by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 8,981,872 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $94,130,000 after purchasing an additional 376,023 shares during the period. 9.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banco Santander Stock Performance

Shares of SAN opened at $11.72 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.65. Banco Santander has a 52-week low of $4.43 and a 52-week high of $11.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.74.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The bank reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.02). Banco Santander had a net margin of 17.90% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The firm had revenue of $20.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.32 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Banco Santander will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banco Santander Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a $0.0956 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 263.0%. Banco Santander’s payout ratio is currently 20.21%.

Banco Santander Company Profile

Banco Santander, SA (NYSE: SAN) is a Spanish multinational banking group headquartered in Santander, Spain. Founded in 1857, the bank has grown from a regional institution into one of Europe’s largest banking groups, operating a diversified financial services platform that serves retail, small and medium-sized enterprises, and large corporate clients. Santander is publicly listed in Spain and maintains American Depositary Receipts on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SAN.

The group’s core activities include retail and commercial banking—offering deposit accounts, payment services, mortgages, personal and auto loans, and small business financing—alongside corporate and investment banking services for larger institutional clients.