Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $7.10, but opened at $6.83. Banco Santander shares last traded at $6.85, with a volume of 661,845 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on SAN. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy”.

Banco Santander Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $5.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.15. The company has a market cap of $104.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.09.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21. Banco Santander had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 15.88%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.1152 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from Banco Santander’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Banco Santander’s dividend payout ratio is 19.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SAN. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Banco Santander by 1.4% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 143,585,152 shares of the bank’s stock worth $732,284,000 after acquiring an additional 2,011,150 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,953,176 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $100,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,449 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Banco Santander by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,775,261 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,135,000 after purchasing an additional 3,413,685 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in shares of Banco Santander in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its stake in Banco Santander by 106.3% during the 4th quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 9,101,145 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,501,000 after buying an additional 4,689,461 shares during the last quarter. 9.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Banco Santander

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.