Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Upgraded to “Outperform” at Royal Bank Of Canada

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on SAN. Zacks Research lowered shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. DZ Bank cut Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Banco Santander Price Performance

NYSE:SAN opened at $12.75 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $189.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.84. Banco Santander has a 12-month low of $5.54 and a 12-month high of $13.11.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $18.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.89 billion. Banco Santander had a return on equity of 12.14% and a net margin of 18.85%. Research analysts anticipate that Banco Santander will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SAN. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Banco Santander during the 3rd quarter worth about $93,811,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 2,038,075.5% during the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,643,158 shares of the bank’s stock worth $63,438,000 after purchasing an additional 7,642,783 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in Banco Santander by 67.5% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,529,024 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $149,504,000 after purchasing an additional 5,856,034 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in Banco Santander by 225.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,100,768 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,976,000 after buying an additional 2,840,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 85.0% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,552,931 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $58,195,000 after buying an additional 2,551,675 shares during the period. 9.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.