Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company.

Several research analysts have recently commented on SAN shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. 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. Zacks Research cut shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, DZ Bank lowered shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th.

Institutional Trading of Banco Santander

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SAN. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Banco Santander by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 18,037,272 shares of the bank’s stock worth $211,577,000 after purchasing an additional 398,787 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 67.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,529,024 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $149,504,000 after buying an additional 5,856,034 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its position 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 worth $120,209,000 after buying an additional 2,607,392 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake 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 buying an additional 1,000,811 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Banco Santander by 20.5% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 9,211,673 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $96,538,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,515 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

Banco Santander Price Performance

Shares of SAN stock opened at $12.73 on Wednesday. Banco Santander has a 1-year low of $5.54 and a 1-year high of $13.11. The firm has a market cap of $189.49 billion, a PE ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day moving average of $11.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.64.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The bank reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.04. Banco Santander had a net margin of 18.85% and a return on equity of 12.14%. The firm had revenue of $18.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.89 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Banco Santander will post 0.83 EPS 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.