Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Position Increased by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,073 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,933 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Banco Santander were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in Banco Santander by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,953,176 shares of the bank’s stock worth $100,106,000 after buying an additional 1,059,449 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in Banco Santander by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 169,178 shares of the bank’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 10,078 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 307,416 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,402,000 after buying an additional 9,724 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. increased its position in Banco Santander by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 75,447 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 6,282 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its position in Banco Santander by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 19,459 shares of the bank’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 2,393 shares during the period. 9.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SAN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Banco Santander currently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Banco Santander Trading Down 0.3 %

Banco Santander stock opened at $6.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $101.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 2.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $6.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.44. Banco Santander, S.A. has a 1 year low of $4.27 and a 1 year high of $7.16.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21. Banco Santander had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 15.88%. On average, research analysts predict that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.1152 per share. This is an increase from Banco Santander’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.4%. Banco Santander’s payout ratio is currently 19.28%.

Banco Santander Profile

Banco Santander, SA provides various financial services worldwide. The company operates through Retail Banking, Santander Corporate & Investment Banking, Wealth Management & Insurance, and PagoNxt segments. It offers demand and time deposits, mutual funds, and current and savings accounts; mortgages, consumer finance, loans, and various financing solutions; and project finance, debt capital markets, global transaction banking, and corporate finance services.