Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) have been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the four ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company.

SAN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Banco Santander Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SAN opened at $6.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $5.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.75 billion, a PE ratio of 7.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.12. Banco Santander has a 1 year low of $4.07 and a 1 year high of $6.50.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last issued 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 return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 15.88%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Banco Santander will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Banco Santander

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in Banco Santander during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in Banco Santander by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,893,727 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $106,558,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290,236 shares during the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its stake in Banco Santander by 106.3% during the 4th quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 9,101,145 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,501,000 after acquiring an additional 4,689,461 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Banco Santander by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,775,261 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,135,000 after acquiring an additional 3,413,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Banco Santander by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 143,585,152 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $732,284,000 after acquiring an additional 2,011,150 shares during the last quarter. 9.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.