Gallacher Capital Management LLC Buys 3,434 Shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)

Gallacher Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 104,087 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 3,434 shares during the quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Banco Santander were worth $475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SAN. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Banco Santander by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 309,715 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,412,000 after buying an additional 6,993 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Banco Santander by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 87,074 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 9,960 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors acquired a new position in Banco Santander during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Impact Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Banco Santander in the 4th quarter valued at $81,000. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 17,495 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 3,698 shares during the period. 9.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SAN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Banco Santander Stock Performance

Shares of SAN opened at $6.78 on Friday. Banco Santander, S.A. has a 12 month low of $4.27 and a 12 month high of $6.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.16, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83.

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

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.1152 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This is an increase from Banco Santander’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.08. Banco Santander’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.28%.

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.