Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $13.24 and last traded at $13.2750, with a volume of 127893 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $12.87.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Santander reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley raised Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Banco Santander from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Banco Santander Stock Up 2.8%

The stock has a market cap of $194.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $12.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.90.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $17.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.66 billion. Banco Santander had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 26.92%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SAN. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in Banco Santander in the third quarter valued at approximately $93,811,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Banco Santander by 2,038,075.5% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,643,158 shares of the bank’s stock worth $63,438,000 after purchasing an additional 7,642,783 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 118.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,413,194 shares of the bank’s stock worth $128,741,000 after purchasing an additional 6,198,828 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 67.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,529,024 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $149,504,000 after purchasing an additional 5,856,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Banco Santander by 225.3% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,100,768 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,976,000 after buying an additional 2,840,145 shares during the period. 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.