Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 41,984,321 shares, a growth of 1,043.2% from the January 29th total of 3,672,648 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 25,539,339 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days. Based on an average trading volume of 25,539,339 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days. Currently, 0.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Banco Santander from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAN. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Banco Santander by 77.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 419,635 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,812,000 after buying an additional 183,051 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 71,990 shares of the bank’s stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 2,566 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Banco Santander by 271.2% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 10,276 shares of the bank’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 7,508 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in Banco Santander by 65.3% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 71,169 shares of the bank’s stock worth $477,000 after buying an additional 28,107 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Banco Santander during the first quarter valued at approximately $601,000. 9.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Banco Santander News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Banco Santander this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Santander set a target of more than €20 billion in attributable profit by 2028 and raised its return-on-tangible-equity target by roughly four percentage points, citing synergies from recent U.S. and U.K. deals — a clear earnings and capital-return improvement story that supports higher valuation and investor confidence. Reuters: Santander targets over €20 billion profit by 2028
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts have reacted: Royal Bank of Canada upgraded SAN and the stock hit a new 52-week high after the presentations — analyst momentum and fresh price highs can prop up buying interest. Analyst upgrade / coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Santander projects roughly €1 billion of business value from AI investments and is targeting millions of new customers as part of its digital growth plan — this underpins the bank’s productivity and revenue ambitions that feed into the 2028 profit target. Finextra: Santander expects to generate €1bn from AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Santander used its Investor Day to outline integration plans for recent acquisitions in the U.S. and U.K. and to tweak dividend policy — these are strategic details investors will watch for execution risk, but they’re not immediate earnings hits. Santander Investor Day press release
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage on how Santander plans to avoid the “U.S. graveyard” for European banks highlights its measured approach to U.S. expansion and risk management — positive for strategy but dependent on execution and regulatory outcomes. American Banker: How Santander plans to avoid U.S. ‘graveyard’
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest spiked sharply in February (reported jump to ~42 million shares, a >1,000% increase from late January) — while short interest is still a small percentage of float, the large increase raises the risk of near-term volatility and could pressure the stock if sentiment reverses. (Data reported 2/25/2026)

Banco Santander Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of NYSE:SAN traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $12.89. 5,025,081 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,339,785. The stock has a market cap of $191.80 billion, a PE ratio of 12.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.72. Banco Santander has a one year low of $5.54 and a one year high of $13.24. The business’s fifty day moving average is $12.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.90.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The bank reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.04. Banco Santander had a return on equity of 12.14% and a net margin of 18.85%.The company had revenue of $18.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.89 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Banco Santander will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

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.