Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Acquires 1,485,006 Shares of Banco Santander, S.A. $SAN

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its stake in Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) by 26.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,156,053 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 1,485,006 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Banco Santander were worth $74,995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. West Family Investments Inc. lifted its position in Banco Santander by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 49,186 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $515,000 after acquiring an additional 965 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Banco Santander by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 19,756 shares of the bank’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 16,554 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038 shares during the period. Stratos Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 7.1% in the third quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 15,865 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 6.0% during the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,617 shares of the bank’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 1,108 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SAN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Barclays cut shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Banco Santander from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Banco Santander has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Banco Santander Price Performance

NYSE:SAN opened at $10.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $160.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $12.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.07. Banco Santander, S.A. has a one year low of $5.54 and a one year high of $13.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.15, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.04. Banco Santander had a net margin of 18.85% and a return on equity of 12.14%. The company had revenue of $18.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.89 billion. Equities analysts expect that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Banco Santander Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.1473 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 254.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 4th. Banco Santander’s payout ratio is currently 20.79%.

Banco Santander 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.