Analysts Set Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Target Price at $59.42

Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $59.42.

Several analysts have weighed in on LVS shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $60.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

Institutional Trading of Las Vegas Sands

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 32,948 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,707,000 after acquiring an additional 8,032 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,501,382 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $333,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577,042 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,810,351 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $709,300,000 after purchasing an additional 160,711 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc. grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 82.9% during the fourth quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 25,602 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 11,602 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 50,087 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $2,572,000 after buying an additional 8,326 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 5.8 %

LVS stock opened at $31.77 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.20. The stock has a market cap of $22.45 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. Las Vegas Sands has a fifty-two week low of $30.18 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.04). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 45.82%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.76%.

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.