Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Receives Average Recommendation of "Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the three brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company.

A number of research firms have issued reports on SAN. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Banco Santander from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Banco Santander from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Banco Santander from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Park Capital Management LLC WI purchased a new stake in shares of Banco Santander in the 1st quarter valued at $71,000. TrueMark Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Banco Santander during the first quarter valued at about $1,537,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 55.1% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 29,707 shares of the bank's stock valued at $199,000 after buying an additional 10,559 shares during the last quarter. Clarius Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 47.9% in the first quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 50,364 shares of the bank's stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 16,316 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Banco Santander by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,935,314 shares of the bank's stock valued at $12,967,000 after acquiring an additional 118,508 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 9.19% of the company's stock.

Banco Santander Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of SAN traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $6.94. The stock had a trading volume of 5,471,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,497,227. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.45. Banco Santander has a 1-year low of $4.27 and a 1-year high of $7.16. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $105.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.81.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.21 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Banco Santander will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

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

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.