Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS Holdings Lifted by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 141.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 927,855 shares of the casino operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 543,418 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $49,993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 222.7% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,098,518 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $592,223,000 after purchasing an additional 6,279,390 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 58.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,186,257 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $532,843,000 after buying an additional 3,018,704 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,246,206 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at about $364,892,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,780,266 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $203,616,000 after purchasing an additional 90,690 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE LVS opened at $46.12 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.83. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52 week low of $44.21 and a 52 week high of $70.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $48.24 and a 200-day moving average of $53.22.

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

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $63.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group set a $52.00 price objective on Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.31.

More Las Vegas Sands News

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

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.