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

Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $58.42.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Las Vegas Sands

In related news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.02, for a total value of $3,191,114.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 119,221 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.73, for a total value of $6,405,744.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 84,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,540,776.03. This represents a 58.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 203,732 shares of company stock valued at $10,861,707 in the last ninety days. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 159.6% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,130,486 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $459,630,000 after buying an additional 5,612,975 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 8,500,248 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $376,136,000 after acquiring an additional 68,568 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,627,422 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $283,284,000 after acquiring an additional 77,807 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 24.8% in the 3rd quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 4,924,340 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $247,891,000 after purchasing an additional 977,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Las Vegas Sands by 44.1% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,949,670 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $130,523,000 after purchasing an additional 903,400 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LVS opened at $49.90 on Friday. Las Vegas Sands has a twelve month low of $36.62 and a twelve month high of $56.60. The company has a market cap of $36.18 billion, a PE ratio of 24.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $51.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.09). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 13.29% and a return on equity of 44.26%. The business had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is 39.60%.

Las Vegas Sands Company Profile

Las Vegas Sands Corp., together with its subsidiaries, develops, owns, and operates integrated resorts in Macao and Singapore. It owns and operates The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, the Londoner Macao, The Parisian Macao, The Plaza Macao and Four Seasons Hotel Macao, Cotai Strip, and the Sands Macao in Macao, the People’s Republic of China; and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.