Pitcairn Co. Buys 6,282 Shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)

Pitcairn Co. boosted its stake in Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 75,447 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,282 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Banco Santander were worth $344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAN. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in shares of Banco Santander in the third quarter valued at about $53,000. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Banco Santander by 106.3% in the 4th quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 9,101,145 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,501,000 after acquiring an additional 4,689,461 shares in the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Banco Santander by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 8,896,192 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,567,000 after acquiring an additional 45,326 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,407,110 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,536,000 after acquiring an additional 159,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 55.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,301,711 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,839,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,449 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

Banco Santander Price Performance

Shares of SAN opened at $5.88 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.32. Banco Santander, S.A. has a 1-year low of $4.27 and a 1-year high of $7.16. The company has a market cap of $89.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.08, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SAN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Banco Santander presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

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.