Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Raises Stock Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 29.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,382,267 shares of the casino operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,152,829 shares during the period. Las Vegas Sands accounts for approximately 1.6% of Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned 1.29% of Las Vegas Sands worth $481,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 73.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 583 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 63.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 885 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LVS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lowered their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Macquarie increased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $69.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.42.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 5.4 %

LVS opened at $38.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.74. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $36.62 and a one year high of $56.61. The company has a market cap of $27.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.36, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.76.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.04). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 45.82%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is 50.76%.

Las Vegas Sands 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.