Stifel Nicolaus Cuts Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Price Target to $60.00

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) had its target price lowered by Stifel Nicolaus from $74.00 to $60.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the casino operator’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on LVS. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho increased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $63.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Seaport Research Partners decreased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $69.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.31.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of LVS stock opened at $46.12 on Thursday. Las Vegas Sands has a 12-month low of $44.21 and a 12-month high of $70.45. The company has a market capitalization of $30.56 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $48.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.22. 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 (NYSE:LVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.59% and a return on equity of 117.08%. Las Vegas Sands’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is 46.69%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 53,945 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $2,902,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. &PARTNERS lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 6,930 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,945 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,859 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Las Vegas Sands

Here are the key news stories impacting Las Vegas Sands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are still looking beyond near-term weakness because Las Vegas Sands is investing heavily in premium travel demand, including Macau property upgrades and an $8 billion Singapore expansion that could support future growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Despite the selloff after earnings, some market coverage says LVS is gaining as investors focus on the company’s long-term assets and ignore temporary headwinds. Article Title

About Las Vegas Sands

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.