Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded the stock from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating. The company traded as high as $13.19 and last traded at $12.9860, with a volume of 2006290 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.75.

SAN has been the subject of several other reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Barclays cut Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. DZ Bank cut Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Kepler Capital Markets raised Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Banco Santander in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Banco Santander in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Banco Santander during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in Banco Santander during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co purchased a new stake in Banco Santander in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 9.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Banco Santander Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $189.42 billion, a PE ratio of 12.60, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $12.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.86.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $18.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.89 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current 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.