Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Barclays

Barclays lowered shares of Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

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

Banco Santander Stock Performance

Shares of SAN opened at $11.80 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $11.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.96. Banco Santander has a twelve month low of $4.58 and a twelve month high of $12.13. The firm has a market cap of $175.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.56, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.73.

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). The company had revenue of $26.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.32 billion. Banco Santander had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 17.90%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Banco Santander will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banco Santander Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SAN. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Banco Santander during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Banco Santander during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Banco Santander in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Banco Santander in the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Banco Santander during the second quarter valued at $30,000. 9.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.