CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Cuts Stock Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co reduced its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 205,102 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 25,170 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co's holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $10,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 32,948 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 8,032 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,501,382 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $333,911,000 after buying an additional 1,577,042 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,810,351 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $709,300,000 after buying an additional 160,711 shares in the last quarter. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter worth $2,311,000. Finally, World Equity Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 82.9% in the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 25,602 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $1,315,000 after buying an additional 11,602 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised Las Vegas Sands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Mizuho set a $47.00 price target on Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of LVS stock traded down $0.74 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $35.87. 6,977,424 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,062,794. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $39.27 and a 200 day moving average of $45.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1 year low of $30.18 and a 1 year high of $56.61. The firm has a market cap of $25.35 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. Analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is currently 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the casino operator to repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Las Vegas Sands Profile

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.