Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $69.00 price target on the casino operator’s stock, up from their previous price target of $60.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Susquehanna raised their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.25.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE LVS opened at $50.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.40. Las Vegas Sands has a 12 month low of $36.62 and a 12 month high of $56.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.10.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.09). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.26% and a net margin of 13.29%. The firm had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is 39.60%.

Insider Activity at Las Vegas Sands

In related news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.02, for a total value of $3,191,114.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 119,221 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.73, for a total transaction of $6,405,744.33. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,540,776.03. The trade was a 58.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 203,732 shares of company stock worth $10,861,707 in the last three months. 0.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 159.6% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,130,486 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $459,630,000 after purchasing an additional 5,612,975 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 8,500,248 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $376,136,000 after acquiring an additional 68,568 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,627,422 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $283,284,000 after purchasing an additional 77,807 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 24.8% during the third quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 4,924,340 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $247,891,000 after purchasing an additional 977,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 44.1% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,949,670 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $130,523,000 after purchasing an additional 903,400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

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.