Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Stock Price

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) had its price target reduced by equities researchers at Barclays from $65.00 to $63.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the casino operator’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 35.04% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $76.75 to $78.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, UBS Group set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.81.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LVS opened at $46.65 on Thursday. Las Vegas Sands has a twelve month low of $45.12 and a twelve month high of $70.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.64. The company has a market capitalization of $30.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.32 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 13.41%.Las Vegas Sands’s quarterly revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 222.7% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,098,518 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $592,223,000 after acquiring an additional 6,279,390 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter valued at about $364,892,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 410.2% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,167,553 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $277,963,000 after purchasing an additional 4,154,753 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 33,102.6% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,060,288 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $197,463,000 after purchasing an additional 3,051,071 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 157.2% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 2,864,789 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $154,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,750,758 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

About Las Vegas Sands

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) is a global developer and operator of integrated resorts, focused on large-scale properties that combine casino gaming with hotels, convention and exhibition facilities, retail, dining, and entertainment. The company’s operations center on developing and managing full-service resort complexes that serve both leisure and business travelers, with emphasis on convention and trade-show business in addition to gaming revenue streams.

The company’s portfolio has included prominent properties in North America and Asia, most notably The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, along with a significant presence in Macau through multiple integrated resorts.