Analysts Set Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Price Target at $56.75

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $56.75.

LVS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho set a $47.00 price target on Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of 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. Macquarie lowered their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,824,289 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $3,021,205,000 after purchasing an additional 12,304,533 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,249,208 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,593,457,000 after buying an additional 2,267,307 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 5,088,095 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew 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 worth $709,300,000 after buying an additional 160,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,415,492 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $479,610,000 after acquiring an additional 752,944 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

NYSE LVS opened at $39.80 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $37.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.96. The firm has a market cap of $28.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.20, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Las Vegas Sands has a 1 year low of $30.18 and a 1 year high of $56.61.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the casino operator to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.56%.

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.