Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company.

SAN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised Banco Santander from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Barclays downgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, 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.

Banco Santander News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Recent operating/earnings beat supports the stock: Santander reported stronger‑than‑expected quarterly results in early February (EPS and revenue beats) and continues to show solid margins and ROE, which underpins longer‑term valuation.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest jumped ~39% in February to ~58.5M shares (about 0.4% of shares outstanding) with a short‑interest ratio of ~3.7 days — a meaningful rise in bearish positioning but still a small share of the float; this can add trading volatility but is not on its own a systemic threat.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary is mixed: a recent Yahoo Finance piece asks whether the pullback warrants reassessment of Santander, signaling some analysts/investors are debating risk/reward after the price move. Is It Time To Reassess Santander
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms have announced securities‑fraud investigations into Banco Santander (Glancy Prongay Wolke & Rotter; Pomerantz; Howard G. Smith; Frank R. Cruz; Rosen Law Firm, etc.), citing alleged materially misleading statements reported in the press — these actions increase legal, financial and reputational risk and can prompt regulatory scrutiny, potential settlements and distraction for management. Representative notices: Glancy Investigation Pomerantz Alert Howard G. Smith Frank R. Cruz AP/Pomerantz

Banco Santander Trading Up 2.5%

Banco Santander stock opened at $11.48 on Friday. Banco Santander has a 52 week low of $5.54 and a 52 week high of $13.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.15, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $12.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.05.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $18.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.89 billion. Banco Santander had a net margin of 18.85% and a return on equity of 12.14%. Research analysts forecast that Banco Santander will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Banco Santander Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th will be given a dividend of $0.1473 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. This represents a yield of 254.0%. Banco Santander’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Banco Santander in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $93,811,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Banco Santander by 2,038,075.5% during the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,643,158 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $63,438,000 after acquiring an additional 7,642,783 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in Banco Santander by 67.5% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,529,024 shares of the bank’s stock worth $149,504,000 after acquiring an additional 5,856,034 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 225.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,100,768 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,976,000 after purchasing an additional 2,840,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 85.0% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,552,931 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $58,195,000 after purchasing an additional 2,551,675 shares in the last quarter. 9.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.