Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $67.2812.

Several brokerages have weighed in on LVS. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LVS. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 116.2% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 148,196 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $9,646,000 after buying an additional 79,641 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 67,446 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $4,390,000 after buying an additional 19,488 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 411.5% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 44,208 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $2,877,000 after buying an additional 35,566 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,051,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 2,655.3% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 878,022 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $57,150,000 after buying an additional 846,155 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

LVS traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $46.21. The company had a trading volume of 325,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,867,738. The business has a 50-day moving average of $50.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64. Las Vegas Sands has a 1 year low of $45.62 and a 1 year high of $70.45. The company has a market cap of $30.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.83.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 13.41%.The firm’s revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

Las Vegas Sands Company Profile

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) is a global developer and operator of integrated resorts, focused on large-scale properties that combine casino gaming with hotels, convention and exhibition facilities, retail, dining, and entertainment. The company’s operations center on developing and managing full-service resort complexes that serve both leisure and business travelers, with emphasis on convention and trade-show business in addition to gaming revenue streams.

The company’s portfolio has included prominent properties in North America and Asia, most notably The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, along with a significant presence in Macau through multiple integrated resorts.