Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $67.9062.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $69.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

LVS stock opened at $46.23 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $50.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64. The stock has a market cap of $30.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.83. Las Vegas Sands has a 52-week low of $45.62 and a 52-week high of $70.45.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.15. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 13.41%.The company had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 222.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,582,962 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $462,450,000 after acquiring an additional 396,705 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,893,031 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $513,757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246,206 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at about $364,892,000. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 43.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,454,013 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $293,371,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660,823 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.