Blue Trust Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) by 218.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,580 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,462 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Banco Santander were worth $538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Banco Santander by 18.3% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,316,066 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,370,000 after acquiring an additional 203,274 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in Banco Santander by 20.9% in the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 4,824,760 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $23,352,000 after acquiring an additional 834,200 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Banco Santander by 2.3% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 249,397 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,207,000 after acquiring an additional 5,634 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in Banco Santander by 216.2% in the first quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 294,147 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after acquiring an additional 201,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Banco Santander by 10.6% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 93,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 8,957 shares during the period. 9.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banco Santander Stock Performance

NYSE SAN opened at $5.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $79.44 billion, a PE ratio of 6.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.14. Banco Santander, S.A. has a one year low of $3.52 and a one year high of $5.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $4.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.88.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. Banco Santander had a net margin of 15.35% and a return on equity of 11.42%. The company had revenue of $16.87 billion for the quarter. Research analysts predict that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Banco Santander Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 3%. Banco Santander’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, UBS Group upgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th.

Banco Santander 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.