Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company.

SAN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. UBS Group lowered Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Barclays downgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th.

Banco Santander Price Performance

Banco Santander stock opened at $12.20 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.23. Banco Santander has a fifty-two week low of $4.85 and a fifty-two week high of $12.31.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The bank reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $26.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.32 billion. Banco Santander had a net margin of 17.90% and a return on equity of 11.68%. As a group, analysts predict that Banco Santander will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Banco Santander

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 96,689 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,134,000 after buying an additional 20,391 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Banco Santander by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 145,198 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,703,000 after acquiring an additional 27,819 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Banco Santander during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 48,342 shares of the bank’s stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 7,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 11,752.0% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,963 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 2,938 shares during the last quarter. 9.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Banco Santander Company Profile

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.