Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Short Interest Up 26.7% in March

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 74,103,742 shares, an increase of 26.7% from the February 26th total of 58,480,112 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 21,453,660 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Banco Santander in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Banco Santander in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Banco Santander in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in Banco Santander in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 11,752.0% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,963 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 2,938 shares in the last quarter. 9.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Banco Santander Price Performance

SAN stock traded up $0.59 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $11.29. The company had a trading volume of 15,285,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,819,716. The business has a 50 day moving average of $11.89 and a 200 day moving average of $11.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.15. Banco Santander has a fifty-two week low of $5.54 and a fifty-two week high of $13.24.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $17.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.89 billion. Banco Santander had a net margin of 18.85% and a return on equity of 12.14%. As a group, research analysts predict that Banco Santander will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Banco Santander Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a report on Monday, February 16th. Weiss Ratings raised Banco Santander from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Banco Santander from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Banco Santander has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Banco Santander Company Profile

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.