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

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $55.83.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Macquarie reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Argus lowered shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $52.31 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The company has a fifty day moving average of $43.21 and a 200 day moving average of $44.42. Las Vegas Sands has a fifty-two week low of $36.62 and a fifty-two week high of $55.65.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The casino operator reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.41% and a net margin of 14.08%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.65%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. American International Group Inc. lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 96,458 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $4,747,000 after acquiring an additional 12,252 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,356,682 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $263,602,000 after acquiring an additional 633,028 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 13.1% during the fourth 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 last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 39,726 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,955,000 after buying an additional 12,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 44.4% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 13,442 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $695,000 after buying an additional 4,132 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.