Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Short Interest Update

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,060,000 shares, a drop of 20.7% from the September 15th total of 8,900,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days. Currently, 0.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SAN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Banco Santander by 2.8% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 81,357 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $394,000 after acquiring an additional 2,248 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Banco Santander by 22.1% during the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 12,722 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 2,303 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 151,930 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $775,000 after acquiring an additional 2,392 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 58,130 shares of the bank’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 2,433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Banco Santander by 12.4% during the third quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,187 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 2,782 shares during the last quarter. 9.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on SAN. StockNews.com lowered shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 22nd. UBS Group upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th.

Banco Santander Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE SAN traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $5.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,589,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,312,324. Banco Santander has a 12 month low of $3.52 and a 12 month high of $5.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $4.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.14.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. Banco Santander had a net margin of 15.35% and a return on equity of 11.42%. The company had revenue of $16.87 billion during the quarter. On average, equities analysts forecast that Banco Santander will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banco Santander Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Banco Santander’s payout ratio is 18.18%.

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.