Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Short Interest Up 26.7% in March

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 74,103,742 shares, an increase of 26.7% from the February 26th total of 58,480,112 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 21,453,660 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Banco Santander Price Performance

Shares of SAN traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $10.76. The company had a trading volume of 6,307,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,702,291. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.15. Banco Santander has a 12-month low of $5.54 and a 12-month high of $13.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.17. The company has a market capitalization of $160.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.67, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.71.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.04. Banco Santander had a net margin of 18.85% and a return on equity of 12.14%. The company had revenue of $17.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.89 billion. Research analysts expect that Banco Santander will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Banco Santander Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th will be paid a $0.1473 dividend. This represents a yield of 254.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. Banco Santander’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a report on Monday, February 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised Banco Santander from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Institutional Trading of Banco Santander

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Banco Santander by 38.9% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 114,066 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after buying an additional 31,958 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its holdings in Banco Santander by 28.8% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 26,863 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 6,014 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Banco Santander by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 327,704 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,844,000 after acquiring an additional 16,593 shares during the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Banco Santander in the fourth quarter valued at about $157,000. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its position in shares of Banco Santander by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 21,975 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 2,224 shares during the last quarter. 9.19% of the stock is currently 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.