Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $58.00.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LVS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $53.90 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09. The stock has a market cap of $39.08 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.10. Las Vegas Sands has a 12-month low of $36.62 and a 12-month high of $55.65. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $51.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.12.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 13.29% and a return on equity of 44.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.60%.

Insider Activity at Las Vegas Sands

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 119,221 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.73, for a total value of $6,405,744.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,511 shares in the company, valued at $4,540,776.03. The trade was a 58.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.02, for a total transaction of $3,191,114.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 203,732 shares of company stock worth $10,861,707 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Las Vegas Sands

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LVS. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 159.6% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,130,486 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $459,630,000 after buying an additional 5,612,975 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 987.0% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,549,615 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $245,570,000 after purchasing an additional 5,039,072 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,351,573 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $502,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,754 shares in the last quarter. Charles Lim Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 178.3% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Lim Capital Ltd now owns 1,600,000 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $70,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 24.8% in the 3rd quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 4,924,340 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $247,891,000 after purchasing an additional 977,636 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Las Vegas Sands

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.