Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SAN. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Zacks Research downgraded Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Barclays cut Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SAN. West Family Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Banco Santander by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 49,186 shares of the bank’s stock worth $515,000 after acquiring an additional 965 shares during the last quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 29,426 shares of the bank’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Banco Santander by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 19,756 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 1,036 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Banco Santander by 6.7% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 16,554 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $173,000 after buying an additional 1,038 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Banco Santander by 7.1% in the third quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 15,865 shares of the bank’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 1,056 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

Banco Santander Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SAN opened at $12.21 on Friday. Banco Santander has a 1 year low of $4.85 and a 1 year high of $12.31. The firm has a market cap of $181.75 billion, a PE ratio of 12.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.14.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $26.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.32 billion. Banco Santander had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 17.90%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Banco Santander will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Banco Santander

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.