Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN)

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders bought 4,108 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 229% compared to the typical volume of 1,249 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SAN has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Banco Santander presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Institutional Trading of Banco Santander

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAN. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,059,449 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Banco Santander by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,775,261 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,135,000 after buying an additional 3,413,685 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in Banco Santander in the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Banco Santander by 106.3% in the 4th quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 9,101,145 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,501,000 after acquiring an additional 4,689,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Todd Asset Management LLC raised its position in Banco Santander by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 8,896,192 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,567,000 after acquiring an additional 45,326 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

Banco Santander Price Performance

NYSE:SAN opened at $5.75 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $6.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.33. The firm has a market cap of $87.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.92, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.81. Banco Santander has a one year low of $4.27 and a one year high of $7.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 2.24.

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

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.1152 dividend. This is a boost from Banco Santander’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.08. This represents a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. Banco Santander’s payout ratio is currently 19.28%.

About Banco Santander

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.