Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $6.10 and last traded at $6.11, with a volume of 60981 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $6.02.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SAN shares. StockNews.com raised Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Banco Santander Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $96.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 2.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.88.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SAN. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 1.4% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 143,585,152 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $732,284,000 after buying an additional 2,011,150 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Banco Santander by 5.1% during the 4th 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 boosted its position in Banco Santander by 46.4% during the fourth 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 position in shares of Banco Santander in the third quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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. Institutional investors own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

Banco Santander Company Profile

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.