Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Stock Price Breaks Above 50 Day Moving Average After Analyst Downgrade

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)’s share price crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Wednesday after CICC Research raised their price target on the stock from $61.20 to $67.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.45 and traded as high as $40.97. CICC Research currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Las Vegas Sands shares last traded at $40.6950, with a volume of 8,513,462 shares.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on LVS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Argus downgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group set a $52.00 target price on Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Mizuho reduced their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, HC Wainwright lowered Las Vegas Sands to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.28.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 73.4% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 886 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 174.6% during the 2nd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,634 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039 shares during the last quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 24.2% during the third quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,788 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt purchased a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the second quarter valued at about $86,000. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.27. The stock has a market cap of $25.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.78.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The casino operator reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.14). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 11.85% and a return on equity of 177.43%. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.18%.

About Las Vegas Sands

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) is a global developer and operator of integrated resorts, combining hotel accommodations, casinos, convention and exhibition facilities, restaurants, retail outlets, entertainment venues and other leisure amenities. The company serves both mass-market and premium customers through large-scale properties designed to support tourism and business travel.

Las Vegas Sands’ principal operations are in Macau and Singapore. Its Macau portfolio includes properties such as The Venetian Macao, The Londoner Macao, The Parisian Macao, Sands Macao and The Plaza Macao.