Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Trading 3.7% Higher – Here’s Why

Shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) shot up 3.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $7.10 and last traded at $7.14. 2,823,477 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 11% from the average session volume of 3,155,757 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.88.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SAN. Morgan Stanley upgraded Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Banco Santander Price Performance

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 stock has a market capitalization of $103.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.24, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $5.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.15.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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, S.A. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.