Banco Santander (SAN) is a Top Dividend Stock Right Now: Should You Buy?

Group 1: Company Overview - Banco Santander (SAN) is based in Madrid and operates in the Finance sector, with shares experiencing a price change of 81.36% this year [3] - The company currently pays a dividend of $0.09 per share, resulting in a dividend yield of 2.19%, which is lower than the Banks - Foreign industry's yield of 3.4% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.6% [3] Group 2: Dividend Performance - Banco Santander's annualized dividend of $0.18 has increased by 20% from the previous year, with an average annual increase of 17.90% over the last 5 years [4] - The current payout ratio is 18%, indicating that the company paid out 18% of its trailing 12-month earnings per share as dividends [4] Group 3: Earnings Growth - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Banco Santander's earnings in 2025 is $0.97 per share, with an expected increase of 16.87% from the previous year [5] Group 4: Investment Considerations - Dividends are favored by investors for various reasons, including tax advantages and risk reduction, although not all companies provide quarterly payouts [6] - Banco Santander is considered a compelling investment opportunity due to its strong dividend performance and current Zacks Rank of 3 (Hold) [7]