Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 90,690 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,780,266 shares of the casino operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 90,690 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.57% of Las Vegas Sands worth $203,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LVS. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 6,279,390 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at about $364,892,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 410.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,167,553 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $277,963,000 after acquiring an additional 4,154,753 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 33,102.6% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,060,288 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $197,463,000 after acquiring an additional 3,051,071 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 18.7% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 1,246,206 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Las Vegas Sands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are still looking beyond near-term weakness because Las Vegas Sands is investing heavily in premium travel demand, including Macau property upgrades and an $8 billion Singapore expansion that could support future growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Despite the selloff after earnings, some market coverage says LVS is gaining as investors focus on the company’s long-term assets and ignore temporary headwinds. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. HSBC increased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho cut their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.31.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 0.2%

LVS opened at $46.12 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.22. The company has a market capitalization of $30.56 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.83. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $44.21 and a 1-year high of $70.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.17). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.59% and a return on equity of 117.08%. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.69%.

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.