Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $68.5469.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Seaport Research Partners dropped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Macquarie Infrastructure restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE:LVS opened at $55.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $37.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.93. Las Vegas Sands has a twelve month low of $30.18 and a twelve month high of $70.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.83.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.08. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.50% and a return on equity of 91.40%. The company had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a positive change from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is 51.28%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Miriam Adelson sold 77,991 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $5,269,071.96. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 23,333,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,576,407,273.96. This trade represents a 0.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 1,198,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.68, for a total value of $79,925,982.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,024,508 shares of company stock worth $203,306,334. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 4.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,072,014 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,874,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822,806 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4.9% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,902,619 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $430,863,000 after buying an additional 459,821 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 222.7% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,098,518 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $592,223,000 after buying an additional 6,279,390 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,823,966 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $382,294,000 after buying an additional 31,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 58.4% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,186,257 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $532,843,000 after buying an additional 3,018,704 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Las Vegas Sands

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) is a global developer and operator of integrated resorts, focused on large-scale properties that combine casino gaming with hotels, convention and exhibition facilities, retail, dining, and entertainment. The company’s operations center on developing and managing full-service resort complexes that serve both leisure and business travelers, with emphasis on convention and trade-show business in addition to gaming revenue streams.

The company’s portfolio has included prominent properties in North America and Asia, most notably The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, along with a significant presence in Macau through multiple integrated resorts.