Ellevest Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)

Ellevest Inc. lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,042 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,263 shares during the period. Ellevest Inc.’s holdings in Banco Santander were worth $192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 197.0% during the fourth quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 557,390 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,542,000 after purchasing an additional 369,700 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Banco Santander by 62.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 105,415 shares of the bank’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 40,438 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Banco Santander in the fourth quarter worth about $3,319,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Banco Santander by 284.9% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 670,513 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,057,000 after buying an additional 496,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments raised its stake in Banco Santander by 69.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 227,478 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,037,000 after buying an additional 92,987 shares in the last quarter. 9.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Banco Santander has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Banco Santander Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SAN opened at $7.42 on Monday. Banco Santander, S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $4.27 and a fifty-two week high of $7.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.65. The company has a market capitalization of $112.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.97. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. Banco Santander had a net margin of 15.88% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The business had revenue of $17.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.94 billion. Analysts expect that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.1152 per share. This is an increase from Banco Santander’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.4%. Banco Santander’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.69%.

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.