Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Seaport Global Securities raised their price target on the stock from $66.00 to $75.00. Seaport Global Securities currently has a buy rating on the stock. Las Vegas Sands traded as high as $68.89 and last traded at $69.87, with a volume of 22024 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.16.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CFO Randy Hyzak sold 57,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.45, for a total value of $3,823,865.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 53,499 shares in the company, valued at $3,555,008.55. This trade represents a 51.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP D. Zachary Hudson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $6,499,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 13,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $892,637.65. This trade represents a 87.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 2,157,545 shares of company stock worth $130,042,065 in the last ninety days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 4.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,072,014 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,874,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822,806 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,722,816 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $607,373,000 after buying an additional 592,321 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 36.8% in the 2nd quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 10,040,975 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $436,883,000 after buying an additional 2,698,398 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 4.9% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,902,619 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $430,863,000 after acquiring an additional 459,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 0.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,823,966 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $382,294,000 after acquiring an additional 31,153 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 2.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.42, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $57.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.89. The company has a market cap of $47.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.03.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.16. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 73.14%. The business had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.25%.

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.