Sapient Capital LLC Acquires New Position in Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 42,928 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $178,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in Banco Santander by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 66,447 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 9,083 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 1,106,340 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,579,000 after acquiring an additional 177,692 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 422,336 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,748,000 after acquiring an additional 28,606 shares during the period. Sage Rhino Capital LLC raised its position in Banco Santander by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 48,690 shares of the bank’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares during the period. Finally, Certuity LLC purchased a new position in shares of Banco Santander during the 4th quarter worth approximately $81,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

Banco Santander Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of SAN stock opened at $5.03 on Wednesday. Banco Santander, S.A. has a 1 year low of $3.20 and a 1 year high of $5.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.60 billion, a PE ratio of 6.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.96, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 2.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $4.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.24.

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a $0.1027 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This is a positive change from Banco Santander’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.09. Banco Santander’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on SAN. StockNews.com upgraded Banco Santander from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays upgraded shares of Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th.

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.