Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $11.79 and last traded at $11.7950, with a volume of 560258 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $11.72.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on SAN. DZ Bank cut shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Banco Santander currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Banco Santander Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.65. The company has a market capitalization of $175.63 billion, a PE ratio of 12.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.74.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.02). Banco Santander had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 17.90%.The business had revenue of $20.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.32 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Banco Santander Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a $0.0956 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 263.0%. Banco Santander’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 67.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,529,024 shares of the bank’s stock worth $149,504,000 after buying an additional 5,856,034 shares during the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its stake in Banco Santander by 22.0% during the second quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 14,482,986 shares of the bank’s stock worth $120,209,000 after acquiring an additional 2,607,392 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Banco Santander by 8.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,844,029 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $134,605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,811 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 9,211,673 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $96,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 8,981,872 shares of the bank’s stock worth $94,130,000 after purchasing an additional 376,023 shares during the period. 9.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Banco Santander

Banco Santander, SA (NYSE: SAN) is a Spanish multinational banking group headquartered in Santander, Spain. Founded in 1857, the bank has grown from a regional institution into one of Europe’s largest banking groups, operating a diversified financial services platform that serves retail, small and medium-sized enterprises, and large corporate clients. Santander is publicly listed in Spain and maintains American Depositary Receipts on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SAN.

The group’s core activities include retail and commercial banking—offering deposit accounts, payment services, mortgages, personal and auto loans, and small business financing—alongside corporate and investment banking services for larger institutional clients.