Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Short Interest Down 15.3% in February

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 19,240,000 shares, a decrease of 15.3% from the February 13th total of 22,720,000 shares. Approximately 5.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,824,289 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $3,021,205,000 after acquiring an additional 12,304,533 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 55.7% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,218,581 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $730,295,000 after purchasing an additional 5,088,095 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,810,351 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $709,300,000 after buying an additional 160,711 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,662,548 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $598,988,000 after buying an additional 1,389,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,382,267 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $481,873,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152,829 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on LVS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Macquarie raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.42.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

LVS traded down $0.65 on Thursday, hitting $43.26. 1,081,962 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,487,887. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $44.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35. Las Vegas Sands has a 52 week low of $36.62 and a 52 week high of $56.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.97 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.07.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.04). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 45.82%. On average, research analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is 50.76%.

About Las Vegas Sands

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.