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

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the four brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company.

SAN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday. 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 lowered shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in Banco Santander by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 257,032 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 52,337 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC grew its stake in Banco Santander by 73.2% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 27,418 shares of the bank’s stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 11,585 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Trading LLC increased its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 512.9% in the 4th quarter. Wolverine Trading LLC now owns 69,108 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 57,833 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in Banco Santander by 28.1% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 43,062 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 9,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ellevest Inc. boosted its stake in Banco Santander by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 42,042 shares of the bank’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 3,263 shares during the period. 9.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banco Santander Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of SAN stock opened at $6.34 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.12. Banco Santander has a fifty-two week low of $4.07 and a fifty-two week high of $6.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 2.24. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $5.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.95.

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

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.