Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Receives $68.55 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $68.5469.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Monday, December 29th. Seaport Research Partners decreased their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group increased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of LVS opened at $52.34 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58. The business has a fifty day moving average of $56.27 and a 200 day moving average of $58.74. The company has a market cap of $35.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.88. Las Vegas Sands has a 52-week low of $30.18 and a 52-week high of $70.45.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.50% and a return on equity of 91.40%. The business’s revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is 51.28%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total value of $3,294,033.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 511,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,028,824.50. This represents a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 358.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 227,278 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $12,225,000 after purchasing an additional 177,695 shares during the period. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 124.4% during the second quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,003,880 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $43,679,000 after buying an additional 556,440 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,143,000. National Pension Service bought a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the third quarter worth approximately $1,262,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 78.0% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 102,576 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $5,518,000 after buying an additional 44,940 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Company Profile

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.