Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company.

SAN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Banco Santander from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. DZ Bank cut Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays downgraded Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets raised Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 56,109,418 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $658,164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,719,432 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 18,037,272 shares of the bank’s stock worth $211,577,000 after buying an additional 398,787 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in Banco Santander by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,766,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $174,839,000 after buying an additional 237,825 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Banco Santander by 8.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,844,029 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $134,605,000 after buying an additional 1,000,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Banco Santander by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 9,400,907 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $110,273,000 after buying an additional 419,035 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

Banco Santander Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of SAN opened at $11.59 on Thursday. Banco Santander has a 1-year low of $5.54 and a 1-year high of $13.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $11.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.47, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.76.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $17.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.89 billion. Banco Santander had a net margin of 18.85% and a return on equity of 12.14%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Banco Santander will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Banco Santander Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th will be given a dividend of $0.1473 per share. This represents a yield of 254.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. Banco Santander’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.81%.

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.