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

Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $59.58.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Macquarie lifted their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LVS opened at $44.00 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $31.50 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.18. Las Vegas Sands has a one year low of $36.62 and a one year high of $56.60. 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 (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 return on equity of 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is presently 50.76%.

Insider Transactions at Las Vegas Sands

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.02, for a total transaction of $3,191,114.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,824,289 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $3,021,205,000 after buying an additional 12,304,533 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 55.7% during the fourth 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 period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $709,300,000 after purchasing an additional 160,711 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in 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 valued at $598,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,963 shares during the period. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,382,267 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $481,873,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,829 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.