Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Short Interest Down 15.8% in March

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,940,000 shares, a drop of 15.8% from the February 28th total of 5,870,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,780,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days. Currently, 0.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Banco Santander

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 2,226.3% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 5,839 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 5,588 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Banco Santander in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Banco Santander during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. WealthCollab LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 7,801 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new stake in shares of Banco Santander in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. 9.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SAN shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Banco Santander Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SAN opened at $6.71 on Tuesday. Banco Santander has a 12-month low of $4.27 and a 12-month high of $7.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.08, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21. Banco Santander had a net margin of 15.88% and a return on equity of 11.90%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Banco Santander will post 0.83 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.1152 dividend. This is a positive change from Banco Santander’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.08. This represents a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Banco Santander’s payout ratio is presently 19.28%.

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.