Empowered Funds LLC Acquires Shares of 235,216 Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 235,216 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $10,865,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 222.7% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,098,518 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $592,223,000 after purchasing an additional 6,279,390 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at $364,892,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 410.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,167,553 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $277,963,000 after acquiring an additional 4,154,753 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the 2nd quarter worth about $174,796,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $107,407,000. 39.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $68.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, HC Wainwright downgraded Las Vegas Sands to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.88.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $45.22 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.29 billion, a PE ratio of 17.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.85. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $43.92 and a 1-year high of $70.45.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly 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 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.