Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $11.64 and last traded at $11.5250, with a volume of 2316103 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.60.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on SAN. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Banco Santander currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Banco Santander Trading Down 0.6%

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $10.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.55. The company has a market cap of $171.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.74.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The bank reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $20.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.32 billion. Banco Santander had a net margin of 17.90% and a return on equity of 11.68%. Equities analysts forecast that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Banco Santander Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SAN. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in Banco Santander during the third quarter valued at about $5,181,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 41,567 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Banco Santander by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 8,981,872 shares of the bank’s stock worth $94,130,000 after purchasing an additional 376,023 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in Banco Santander during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $93,811,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 4.2% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 341,749 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,582,000 after purchasing an additional 13,926 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

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.