Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday.

LVS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $55.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LVS opened at $39.60 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $29.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.00, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.12. Las Vegas Sands has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $60.47. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The casino operator reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 43.61%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.65%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,351,573 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $502,307,000 after buying an additional 1,536,754 shares during the last quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the second quarter worth about $1,027,000. Silvant Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 10.7% in the second quarter. Silvant Capital Management LLC now owns 372,471 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $16,482,000 after purchasing an additional 35,911 shares during the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 42.0% during the 2nd quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,630 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,223,000 after purchasing an additional 8,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stableford Capital II LLC increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC now owns 40,493 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,714,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.