Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Santander reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $15.10.

Banco Santander Trading Up 4.1%

NYSE:SAN opened at $13.90 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $14.45 and a 200-day moving average of $13.21. The firm has a market cap of $204.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.74. Banco Santander has a twelve month low of $9.62 and a twelve month high of $15.05.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.02). Banco Santander had a return on equity of 12.43% and a net margin of 26.94%.The business had revenue of $17.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.90 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Banco Santander will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Banco Santander Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $0.1439 per share. This represents a yield of 217.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. Banco Santander’s payout ratio is presently 17.07%.

Institutional Trading of Banco Santander

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Banco Santander by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 18,037,272 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $211,577,000 after buying an additional 398,787 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Banco Santander by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,766,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $174,839,000 after acquiring an additional 237,825 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 118.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,413,194 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $128,741,000 after purchasing an additional 6,198,828 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 37.9% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 2,566,939 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,955,000 after purchasing an additional 705,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 32.1% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,535,847 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,324,000 after purchasing an additional 373,646 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

About Banco Santander

Banco Santander, SA is a global banking group headquartered in Santander, Spain. Founded in 1857, the company provides financial services to individuals, businesses and institutions through subsidiaries and branches across Europe, North America and South America.

Its principal activities include retail and commercial banking, consumer finance, corporate and investment banking, wealth management, insurance and payment services. Santander offers products such as checking and savings accounts, mortgages, personal loans, credit cards, business financing, investment products and digital banking solutions.

The group serves customers in markets including Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Poland, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and the United States.