Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New $849,000 Investment in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 22,464 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $849,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $174,796,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the second quarter valued at approximately $107,407,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the second quarter valued at approximately $83,696,000. Amundi grew 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 valued at $154,355,000 after buying an additional 1,750,758 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the second quarter valued at approximately $67,068,000. 39.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of LVS stock traded up $1.02 on Friday, hitting $40.35. 4,506,664 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,839,518. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.27, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52 week low of $35.03 and a 52 week high of $70.45. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.05. The firm has a market cap of $25.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.78.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The casino operator reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 177.43% and a net margin of 11.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is 49.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LVS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Argus cut Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, HSBC decreased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $78.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.28.

Las Vegas Sands Profile

Las Vegas Sands is a global developer and operator of integrated resorts, combining casino gaming with hotels, dining, shopping, entertainment and convention facilities. The company’s properties include Marina Bay Sands in Singapore and several resorts in Macau, such as The Venetian Macao, The Londoner Macao and The Parisian Macao. Founded by Sheldon Adelson, the company helped popularize the integrated-resort model with The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, which opened in 1999. Las Vegas Sands sold its Las Vegas properties in 2022 and now focuses its resort operations on Macau and Singapore.