Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Rating Increased to Outperform at Royal Bank Of Canada

Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Zacks Research lowered Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Banco Santander presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Banco Santander Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE SAN opened at $12.73 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $189.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50 day moving average is $12.19 and its 200-day moving average is $10.86. Banco Santander has a 12-month low of $5.54 and a 12-month high of $13.19.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last released 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 company had revenue of $18.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.89 billion. Equities analysts expect that Banco Santander will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Banco Santander

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in Banco Santander in the third quarter valued at $93,811,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Banco Santander by 2,038,075.5% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,643,158 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $63,438,000 after purchasing an additional 7,642,783 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 67.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in Banco Santander by 225.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,100,768 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,976,000 after buying an additional 2,840,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Banco Santander by 85.0% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,552,931 shares of the bank’s stock worth $58,195,000 after buying an additional 2,551,675 shares in the last quarter. 9.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.