Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Plans Semi-annual Dividend of $0.12

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) announced a semi-annual dividend on Monday, March 10th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This is a 44.0% increase from Banco Santander’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.08.

Banco Santander has increased its dividend payment by an average of 55.6% annually over the last three years. Banco Santander has a dividend payout ratio of 22.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Down 5.4 %

Shares of NYSE SAN opened at $6.40 on Tuesday. Banco Santander has a 12-month low of $4.27 and a 12-month high of $6.83. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83. The stock has a market cap of $96.90 billion, a PE ratio of 7.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $5.47 and a 200 day moving average of $5.06.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.21 earnings per share (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, sell-side analysts predict that Banco Santander will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on SAN shares. Morgan Stanley raised Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently 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.