Truist Financial Corp Cuts Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Truist Financial Corp trimmed its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 34.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,208 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 10,164 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $850,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 346.4% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,692 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,089 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 2.7% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 83,838 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $3,710,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242 shares during the last quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 1,695.0% in the second quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 359,000 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $15,886,000 after purchasing an additional 339,000 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 7.1% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 74,587 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $3,300,000 after purchasing an additional 4,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 987.0% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,549,615 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $245,570,000 after purchasing an additional 5,039,072 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $52.31 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $43.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.27, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $36.62 and a one year high of $55.65.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.41% and a net margin of 14.08%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LVS shares. UBS Group downgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $49.00 in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Argus downgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.83.

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.