Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $53.28 According to Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately bullish: 20 analysts are split evenly between buy and hold ratings, with an average 12-month price target of $53.28.
• Las Vegas Sands missed quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $0.54 versus $0.68 forecast and revenue of $3.22 billion versus $3.33 billion expected; revenue fell 3.5% year over year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, equivalent to an annualized yield of about 3.1%.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $53.28.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on LVS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Susquehanna set a $47.00 price target on Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. HC Wainwright downgraded Las Vegas Sands to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

NYSE LVS opened at $38.24 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.27. Las Vegas Sands has a 12 month low of $35.03 and a 12 month high of $70.45. The stock has a market cap of $23.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.67, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.78. The company's 50 day moving average is $39.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.82.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The casino operator reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.33 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 11.85% and a return on equity of 177.43%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.18%.

Institutional Trading of Las Vegas Sands

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LVS. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 6.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,159,570 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $700,221,000 after purchasing an additional 919,452 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,582,962 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $462,450,000 after buying an additional 396,705 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 36.9% in the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 4,617,148 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $213,266,000 after buying an additional 1,244,943 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,780,266 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $203,616,000 after buying an additional 90,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 3,748,681 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $201,979,000 after buying an additional 343,203 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company's stock.

About Las Vegas Sands

Las Vegas Sands Corp. NYSE: LVS is a global developer and operator of integrated resorts, combining hotel accommodations, casinos, convention and exhibition facilities, restaurants, retail outlets, entertainment venues and other leisure amenities. The company serves both mass-market and premium customers through large-scale properties designed to support tourism and business travel.

Las Vegas Sands' principal operations are in Macau and Singapore. Its Macau portfolio includes properties such as The Venetian Macao, The Londoner Macao, The Parisian Macao, Sands Macao and The Plaza Macao.

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