Buy The Dip In Santander, Morgan Stanley Proclaims

In a report published Monday, Morgan Stanley analyst Cheryl M. Pate maintained an Overweight rating on Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc (NYSE: SC).Santander Consumer's founder chairman has resigned as the company's CEO. "Buy on dip," analyst Cheryl M Pate said."While we believe the initial knee jerk reaction may be to sell shares on the announced CEO change / exit of a company founder, we believe the company is in excellent hands with eight-year SC veteran Jason Kulas," Pate mentioned.The change is part of Santander Consumer's succession plan. "…we believe the change will prove beneficial for investors in the long run," Pate added.Santander Consumer said that the changes in Tom Dundon's role "have been amicably agreed and are unrelated to the company's performance or regulatory standing."The change in leadership is not indicative of a change in the company's strategy. Santander Consumer is poised for robust volume growth via its maturing OEM relations, strong underwriting and risk management capabilities and growing service business.In the report Morgan Stanley noted, "…the mutual decision by both parties for SHUSA to purchase Tom Dundon's remaining stake is in our view a vote of confidence in the company. Importantly, Tom will remain involved with SC, both as a Board member and as an advisor, giving us confidence that the move was not related to regulatory or performance concerns."Santander Consumer's growth prospects are driven by the growth opportunity within the captive channel, its strong technology platform and the potential increase in non-lending activities like servicing, leasing and unsecured consumers.