Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to “Buy” Rating

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) was upgraded by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $69.00 target price on the casino operator’s stock, up from their prior target price of $60.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 38.28% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on LVS. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.25.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

LVS opened at $49.90 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $51.80 and a 200 day moving average of $46.34. 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 $36.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.70, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.10. Las Vegas Sands has a 52-week low of $36.62 and a 52-week high of $56.60.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 13.29% and a return on equity of 44.26%. Las Vegas Sands’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 119,221 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.73, for a total transaction of $6,405,744.33. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,540,776.03. This trade represents a 58.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction dated 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 203,732 shares of company stock worth $10,861,707. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LVS. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 159.6% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,130,486 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $459,630,000 after purchasing an additional 5,612,975 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 5,039,072 shares in the last quarter. Charles Lim Capital Ltd raised its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 178.3% in the second quarter. Charles Lim Capital Ltd now owns 1,600,000 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $70,800,000 after buying an additional 1,025,000 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 24.8% in the third quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 4,924,340 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $247,891,000 after buying an additional 977,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 44.1% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,949,670 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $130,523,000 after acquiring an additional 903,400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

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.