Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Cut to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Banco Santander from "buy" to "hold," though analysts remain mixed overall and MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.
• Banco Santander beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $0.28 vs. $0.24 and revenue of $17.68B vs. $15.89B, reporting a net margin of 18.85% and ROE of 12.14%.
• The stock opened at $12.88 (up ~4.7%), trading near its 52-week high of $13.24 and carrying a P/E of 12.75 and a market cap of about $191.65 billion.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Saturday.

SAN has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Banco Santander from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Banco Santander from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Banco Santander from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Barclays downgraded shares of Banco Santander from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of Banco Santander from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Banco Santander currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

Banco Santander Trading Up 4.7%

SAN opened at $12.88 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average is $11.75 and its 200-day moving average is $11.33. Banco Santander has a 1-year low of $6.61 and a 1-year high of $13.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.15. The company has a market cap of $191.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.75, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.76.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.04. Banco Santander had a net margin of 18.85% and a return on equity of 12.14%. The company had revenue of $17.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.89 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Banco Santander will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Banco Santander in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of Banco Santander in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Banco Santander in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Banco Santander in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 11,752.0% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,963 shares of the bank's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 2,938 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.19% of the company's stock.

About Banco Santander

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.