Mariner LLC Trims Stock Position in Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)

Mariner LLC cut its stake in Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 791,372 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 4,450 shares during the period. Mariner LLC’s holdings in Banco Santander were worth $3,608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. increased its stake in Banco Santander by 197.0% during the fourth quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 557,390 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,542,000 after acquiring an additional 369,700 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Banco Santander by 62.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 105,415 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $479,000 after buying an additional 40,438 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Banco Santander in the 4th quarter valued at $3,319,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Banco Santander by 55.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,301,711 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,839,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,449 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Global Investments lifted its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 69.1% during the fourth quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 227,478 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 92,987 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on SAN. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Banco Santander Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE SAN opened at $6.71 on Tuesday. 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 $6.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.44. Banco Santander, S.A. has a one year low of $4.27 and a one year high of $7.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.67 billion, a PE ratio of 8.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.1152 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Banco Santander’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.08. Banco Santander’s payout ratio is presently 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.