Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Upgraded at Kepler Capital Markets

Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on SAN. Barclays downgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. DZ Bank downgraded Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Banco Santander Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of SAN opened at $12.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.56 billion, a PE ratio of 12.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $11.27 and its 200-day moving average is $10.11. Banco Santander has a 12 month low of $4.85 and a 12 month high of $12.31.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The bank reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $26.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.32 billion. Banco Santander had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 17.90%. Equities research analysts predict that Banco Santander will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 77.4% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 419,635 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,812,000 after purchasing an additional 183,051 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Banco Santander by 3.7% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 71,990 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $482,000 after buying an additional 2,566 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Banco Santander by 271.2% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 10,276 shares of the bank’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 7,508 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in shares of Banco Santander by 65.3% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 71,169 shares of the bank’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 28,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 358.5% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 14,177 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 11,085 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.