Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $7.10, but opened at $6.83. Banco Santander shares last traded at $6.85, with a volume of 661,845 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SAN. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Banco Santander Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 2.24. The company has a market cap of $104.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.09.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21. Banco Santander had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 15.88%. On average, equities analysts expect that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.1152 dividend. This is a positive change from Banco Santander’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.08. This represents a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Banco Santander’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Banco Santander in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Banco Santander by 2,226.3% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 5,839 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 5,588 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Banco Santander during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. WealthCollab LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 35.1% during the fourth quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 7,801 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new stake in shares of Banco Santander during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. 9.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.