Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN)

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 13,194 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,244% compared to the average volume of 982 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAN. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in shares of Banco Santander by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 28,990 shares of the bank’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917 shares during the period. WealthCollab LLC grew its holdings in Banco Santander by 35.1% during the fourth quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 7,801 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Banco Santander by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 17,230 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 2,032 shares during the last quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 17,220 shares of the bank’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Banco Santander by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 50,013 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

Banco Santander Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SAN traded up $0.27 on Tuesday, hitting $7.15. The company had a trading volume of 5,710,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,165,348. The business has a 50 day moving average of $5.68 and a 200 day moving average of $5.12. Banco Santander has a 52-week low of $4.27 and a 52-week high of $7.15. The company has a market cap of $108.26 billion, a PE ratio of 8.61, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83.

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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Banco Santander will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on SAN. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Banco Santander presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

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.