Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Rating Lowered to Hold at UBS Group

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) was downgraded by stock analysts at UBS Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

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

Banco Santander Price Performance

NYSE:SAN opened at $12.21 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.75 billion, a PE ratio of 12.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.73. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $11.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.14. Banco Santander has a 12 month low of $4.85 and a 12 month high of $12.31.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.02). Banco Santander had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 17.90%.The business had revenue of $26.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.32 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Banco Santander will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Banco Santander

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 67.5% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its position in Banco Santander by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 14,482,986 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $120,209,000 after buying an additional 2,607,392 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Banco Santander by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,844,029 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $134,605,000 after buying an additional 1,000,811 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Banco Santander by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 9,211,673 shares of the bank’s stock worth $96,538,000 after buying an additional 1,568,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 8,981,872 shares of the bank’s stock worth $94,130,000 after acquiring an additional 376,023 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.