Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $12.14 and last traded at $12.1350, with a volume of 3504837 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.88.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SAN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DZ Bank lowered shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays lowered Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research cut Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Banco Santander Trading Up 2.1%

The firm has a market cap of $180.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $11.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.05.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The bank reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $26.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.32 billion. Banco Santander had a net margin of 17.90% and a return on equity of 11.68%. On average, analysts predict that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Banco Santander in the second quarter worth $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banco Santander in the third quarter valued at $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of Banco Santander in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Banco Santander during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in Banco Santander during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. 9.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Banco Santander Company Profile

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.