VSM Wealth Advisory LLC Purchases Shares of 36,608 Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 36,608 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $167,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SAN. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 50.5% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 27,073 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 9,085 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,399,228 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,136,000 after purchasing an additional 73,204 shares during the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 35,456 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 5,683 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 770,092 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,927,000 after purchasing an additional 12,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 176,023 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $898,000 after purchasing an additional 21,997 shares during the last quarter. 9.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Banco Santander Price Performance

Shares of SAN stock opened at $7.15 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $5.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.09. Banco Santander, S.A. has a 52-week low of $4.27 and a 52-week high of $7.16.

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

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.1152 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This is a positive change from Banco Santander’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.08. This represents a yield of 2.4%. Banco Santander’s payout ratio is 19.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.