Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) and Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) Head to Head Comparison

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) and Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) are both large-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

39.2% of Las Vegas Sands shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.2% of Electronic Arts shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Las Vegas Sands shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Electronic Arts shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Las Vegas Sands pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Electronic Arts pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Las Vegas Sands pays out 45.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Electronic Arts pays out 22.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Las Vegas Sands has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Las Vegas Sands is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk & Volatility

Las Vegas Sands has a beta of 0.97, meaning that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Electronic Arts has a beta of 0.73, meaning that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Las Vegas Sands and Electronic Arts, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Las Vegas Sands	0	6	11	1	2.72
Electronic Arts	1	20	4	0	2.12

Las Vegas Sands currently has a consensus target price of $69.12, suggesting a potential upside of 14.48%. Electronic Arts has a consensus target price of $187.19, suggesting a potential downside of 8.41%. Given Las Vegas Sands’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Las Vegas Sands is more favorable than Electronic Arts.

Profitability

This table compares Las Vegas Sands and Electronic Arts’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Las Vegas Sands	12.69%	73.14%	8.87%
Electronic Arts	12.14%	15.30%	8.02%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Las Vegas Sands and Electronic Arts”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Las Vegas Sands	$12.26 billion	3.33	$1.45 billion	$2.21	27.32
Electronic Arts	$7.46 billion	6.85	$1.12 billion	$3.42	59.76

Las Vegas Sands has higher revenue and earnings than Electronic Arts. Las Vegas Sands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Electronic Arts, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Las Vegas Sands beats Electronic Arts on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The company’s integrated resorts feature accommodations, gaming, entertainment and retail malls, convention and exhibition facilities, celebrity chef restaurants, and other amenities. Las Vegas Sands Corp. was founded in 1988 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. develops, markets, publishes, and distributes games, content, and services for game consoles, PCs, mobile phones, and tablets worldwide. It develops and publishes games and services across various genres, such as sports, racing, first-person shooter, action, role-playing, and simulation primarily under the Battlefield, The Sims, Apex Legends, Need for Speed, and license games from others, including FIFA, Madden NFL, UFC, and Star Wars brands. The company licenses its games to third parties to distribute and host its games. It markets and sells its games and services through digital distribution and retail channels, as well as directly to mass market retailers, specialty stores, and distribution arrangements. Electronic Arts Inc. was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Redwood City, California.