Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Now Covered by Citigroup

Citigroup started coverage on shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $71.50 price target on the casino operator’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.16.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of LVS opened at $36.13 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.27, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.00. Las Vegas Sands has a 52 week low of $35.28 and a 52 week high of $70.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.06, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.37 and a 200-day moving average of $47.62.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.17). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 133.90% and a net margin of 12.59%. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 4th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LVS. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 73.4% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 886 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 101.3% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,556 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 783 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 174.6% during the 2nd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,634 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 2nd quarter valued at $86,000. Finally, Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 13.9% during the second quarter. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. now owns 2,012 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Las Vegas Sands

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) is a global developer and operator of integrated resorts that combine casino gaming with hotels, convention and exhibition facilities, retail, dining and entertainment venues. The company’s properties are designed to serve leisure travelers, business visitors and convention groups.

Las Vegas Sands operates major integrated resorts in Macau, including The Venetian Macao, The Parisian Macao, The Londoner Macao and Four Seasons Hotel Macao. In Singapore, it operates Marina Bay Sands, a large resort featuring hotel accommodations, gaming, shopping, dining, entertainment and convention facilities.