Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $5.59, but opened at $5.75. Banco Santander shares last traded at $5.77, with a volume of 449,410 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on SAN shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th.

Banco Santander Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $94.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.17, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 2.24.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 143,585,152 shares of the bank’s stock worth $732,284,000 after buying an additional 2,011,150 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Banco Santander by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,893,727 shares of the bank’s stock worth $106,558,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,236 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in shares of Banco Santander during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 106.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Todd Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Banco Santander by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 8,896,192 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,567,000 after buying an additional 45,326 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

Banco Santander Company Profile

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.