Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Banco Santander Stock Up 0.6 %

SAN stock opened at $7.19 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83. The firm has a market cap of $108.87 billion, a PE ratio of 8.66, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.97. Banco Santander has a 1 year low of $4.27 and a 1 year high of $7.46. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.59.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. Banco Santander had a net margin of 15.88% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The business had revenue of $17.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.94 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Banco Santander will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.1152 per share. This represents a yield of 2.4%. 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. Banco Santander’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SAN. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Banco Santander by 106.3% in the fourth quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 9,101,145 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,501,000 after acquiring an additional 4,689,461 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Banco Santander by 46.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,775,261 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,135,000 after buying an additional 3,413,685 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Banco Santander by 55.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,301,711 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,839,000 after buying an additional 1,178,449 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Banco Santander by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,953,176 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $100,106,000 after buying an additional 1,059,449 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in Banco Santander by 4,041.6% during the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 990,966 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,519,000 after acquiring an additional 967,039 shares during the last quarter. 9.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Banco Santander Company 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.