Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $65.00. The stock had previously closed at $50.23, but opened at $48.09. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Las Vegas Sands shares last traded at $46.05, with a volume of 3,403,061 shares changing hands.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.06, for a total transaction of $5,206,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,996,020.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LVS. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,638,753 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,556,945,000 after acquiring an additional 5,439,735 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter valued at $266,538,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,898,186 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,815,760,000 after acquiring an additional 4,264,043 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 214.5% in the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 3,110,574 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $153,071,000 after acquiring an additional 2,121,546 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Lim Capital Ltd grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 296.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Lim Capital Ltd now owns 2,575,000 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $118,038,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $52.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.31.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The casino operator reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 34.40%. The business’s revenue was up 34.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. Analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.73 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, February 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

Las Vegas Sands Company Profile

Las Vegas Sands Corp., together with its subsidiaries, develops, owns, and operates integrated resorts in Macao and Singapore. It owns and operates The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, the Londoner Macao, The Parisian Macao, The Plaza Macao and Four Seasons Hotel Macao, Cotai Strip, and the Sands Macao in Macao, the People's Republic of China; and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.