Opal Capital LLC Invests $895,000 in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Opal Capital LLC purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 16,614 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $895,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amundi grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 157.2% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 2,864,789 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $154,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,750,758 shares during the period. Talon Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the first quarter valued at approximately $963,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 2,260.4% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 196,482 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $10,586,000 after purchasing an additional 188,158 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 139.9% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 531,223 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $28,622,000 after purchasing an additional 309,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 35.3% in the 1st quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 18,212 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $981,000 after buying an additional 4,747 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $62.00 target price (down from $73.00) on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Eleven 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, Las Vegas Sands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.88.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LVS opened at $48.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $31.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.27. The company has a 50 day moving average of $48.15 and a 200 day moving average of $52.93. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a twelve month low of $44.21 and a twelve month high of $70.45.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.59% and a return on equity of 133.90%. Las Vegas Sands’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.69%.

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.