Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Reaches New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $65.00 to $53.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Las Vegas Sands traded as low as $44.59 and last traded at $44.7790, with a volume of 3887203 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $45.90.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $78.50 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on 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 set a $52.00 price objective on Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Barclays dropped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.06.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LVS. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 16.7% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 710,484 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $32,817,000 after buying an additional 101,891 shares during the period. Tema ETFs LLC boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 6,695 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $309,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,578 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 84,871 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $3,920,000 after acquiring an additional 2,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 45.1% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 822,268 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $37,981,000 after acquiring an additional 255,623 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 2.4%

The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.67 billion, a PE ratio of 16.58, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.83.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Las Vegas Sands Company Profile

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.