American Trust Investment Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 251,365 Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)

American Trust Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 251,365 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,146,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Banco Santander during the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Banco Santander by 55.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,301,711 shares of the bank's stock valued at $16,839,000 after buying an additional 1,178,449 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Banco Santander by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 32,970 shares of the bank's stock worth $150,000 after buying an additional 3,505 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 34,884 shares of the bank's stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 3,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Banco Santander during the fourth quarter worth approximately $136,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on SAN. StockNews.com lowered shares of Banco Santander from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Banco Santander from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Banco Santander from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Banco Santander has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Banco Santander Trading Up 2.6 %

NYSE:SAN traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $7.36. 2,704,629 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,357,723. The firm has a market cap of $111.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.87, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.61. Banco Santander, S.A. has a 52-week low of $4.27 and a 52-week high of $7.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.94 billion. Banco Santander had a net margin of 15.88% and a return on equity of 11.90%. As a group, analysts predict that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.1152 dividend. This represents a yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Banco Santander's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Banco Santander's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.39%.

About Banco Santander

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.