Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,135,377 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 110,821 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Banco Santander were worth $5,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SAN. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Banco Santander in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Banco Santander in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new stake in Banco Santander during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Banco Santander during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, CogentBlue Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Banco Santander during the fourth quarter worth $50,000. 9.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Banco Santander Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE SAN opened at $7.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.09. Banco Santander, S.A. has a 12-month low of $4.27 and a 12-month high of $7.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $5.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.21.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.21. Banco Santander had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 15.88%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.1152 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Banco Santander’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.08. Banco Santander’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on SAN. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley raised Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy”.

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.