Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the four ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company.

SAN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th.

Banco Santander Stock Performance

NYSE SAN opened at $6.39 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $96.75 billion, a PE ratio of 7.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $5.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.99. Banco Santander has a twelve month low of $4.07 and a twelve month high of $6.50.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.21. Banco Santander had a net margin of 15.88% and a return on equity of 11.90%. On average, research analysts predict that Banco Santander will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,011,150 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,953,176 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $100,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,449 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Banco Santander by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,775,261 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,135,000 after purchasing an additional 3,413,685 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in Banco Santander during the 3rd quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $41,501,000 after buying an additional 4,689,461 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

About Banco Santander

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.