Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on SAN shares. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Banco Santander from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Banco Santander from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th.

Banco Santander Stock Up 3.8%

Shares of Banco Santander stock opened at $12.50 on Friday. Banco Santander has a twelve month low of $7.82 and a twelve month high of $13.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $11.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.72. The firm has a market cap of $183.62 billion, a PE ratio of 10.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.73.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.02). Banco Santander had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business had revenue of $17.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.66 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Banco Santander will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Banco Santander Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a dividend of $0.1473 per share. This represents a yield of 255.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Banco Santander’s payout ratio is 17.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Banco Santander during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Banco Santander by 117.9% during the 1st quarter. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,308 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,249 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Banco Santander during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Banco Santander during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Banco Santander during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 9.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.