Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Raises Dividend to $0.12 Per Share

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) declared a semi-annual dividend on Monday, March 10th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.1152 per share by the bank on Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This is a 44.0% increase from Banco Santander’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.08.

Banco Santander has raised its dividend payment by an average of 55.6% annually over the last three years. Banco Santander has a payout ratio of 22.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Banco Santander to earn $0.92 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.22 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.9%.

Banco Santander Stock Performance

NYSE SAN traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $6.40. The stock had a trading volume of 5,066,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,065,612. Banco Santander has a 52-week low of $4.27 and a 52-week high of $6.83. 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 stock has a market cap of $96.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5.43 and a 200 day moving average of $5.05.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21. Banco Santander had a net margin of 15.88% and a return on equity of 11.90%. Sell-side analysts predict that Banco Santander will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Banco Santander Company 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.