Guardian Capital LP Acquires 87,054 Shares of Banco Santander, S.A. $SAN

Guardian Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) by 61.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 228,126 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,054 shares during the period. Guardian Capital LP’s holdings in Banco Santander were worth $2,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Marietta Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Marietta Investment Partners LLC now owns 352,750 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,697,000 after buying an additional 2,672 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 1,280,253 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,417,000 after acquiring an additional 56,346 shares in the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 102.9% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 737,924 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,733,000 after acquiring an additional 374,167 shares during the period. Twin Focus Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Banco Santander during the third quarter worth $122,000. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Banco Santander by 89.5% in the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 38,033 shares of the bank’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 17,963 shares during the period. 9.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DZ Bank lowered shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays downgraded Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Banco Santander from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Banco Santander Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE SAN opened at $11.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.15, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $12.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.71. Banco Santander, S.A. has a 1 year low of $5.54 and a 1 year high of $13.24.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.04. Banco Santander had a net margin of 18.85% and a return on equity of 12.14%. The company had revenue of $18.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.89 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banco Santander Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be paid a $0.1473 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. This represents a dividend yield of 254.0%. Banco Santander’s dividend payout ratio is 18.81%.

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.