Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on SAN. Mediobanca reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “buy” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Banco Santander from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, DZ Bank reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Eleven equities research 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.10.

Banco Santander Trading Up 6.4%

NYSE:SAN opened at $12.06 on Tuesday. Banco Santander has a 1-year low of $10.05 and a 1-year high of $15.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.20 billion, a PE ratio of 9.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.78.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Banco Santander by 118.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,413,194 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $128,741,000 after purchasing an additional 6,198,828 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in Banco Santander by 37.9% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 2,566,939 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,955,000 after buying an additional 705,034 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 32.1% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,535,847 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,324,000 after buying an additional 373,646 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 18.3% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 956,275 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,787,000 after buying an additional 147,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 9.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 703,998 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,941,000 after buying an additional 59,304 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

About Banco Santander

Banco Santander, SA is a Spain-based global banking group founded in 1857 and headquartered in Santander, Spain. The company provides financial services to individuals, businesses, institutions and governments through a network spanning Europe, North America and South America.

Its principal activities include retail and commercial banking, consumer finance, corporate and investment banking, payments, asset management and private banking. Santander offers products and services such as current and savings accounts, mortgages, personal and business loans, credit cards, insurance, investment products, cash-management services and financing for corporate clients.

The group operates through established banking businesses in markets including Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Poland, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and the United States.