Forum Financial Management LP Buys 52,337 Shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)

Forum Financial Management LP grew its stake in Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN - Free Report) by 25.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 257,032 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 52,337 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP's holdings in Banco Santander were worth $1,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SAN. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 82.3% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 24,153 shares of the bank's stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 10,907 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 12,665 shares of the bank's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 2,393 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 143,901 shares of the bank's stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,763 shares during the period. Requisite Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Banco Santander in the fourth quarter worth about $407,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 65.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 174,795 shares of the bank's stock worth $797,000 after purchasing an additional 69,215 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SAN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Banco Santander from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Banco Santander from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Banco Santander from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy".

Banco Santander Stock Performance

SAN traded down $0.02 on Friday, hitting $7.94. 1,523,131 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,700,473. Banco Santander, S.A. has a 52 week low of $4.27 and a 52 week high of $8.08. 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 has a market capitalization of $120.24 billion, a PE ratio of 9.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $7.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.92.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.22. Banco Santander had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 15.88%. The firm had revenue of $17.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.94 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.1152 per share. This represents a yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from Banco Santander's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Banco Santander's payout ratio is currently 20.69%.

Banco Santander 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.