Bank of Nova Scotia Acquires New Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia acquired 1.43 million Las Vegas Sands shares worth approximately $65.9 million, giving it a 0.22% stake. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 39.16% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with 10 Buy, 8 Hold, and 1 Sell rating; the consensus rating is Hold with a target price of $61.88, compared with the stock’s $47.04 opening price.
• Las Vegas Sands reported quarterly EPS of $0.59, missing the $0.76 consensus estimate, while revenue of $3.15 billion also fell short of expectations. The company maintained a quarterly dividend of $0.30, equivalent to a 2.6% annualized yield.

Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,426,278 shares of the casino operator's stock, valued at approximately $65,880,000. Bank of Nova Scotia owned about 0.22% of Las Vegas Sands at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 222.7% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,098,518 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $592,223,000 after acquiring an additional 6,279,390 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4.8% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,582,962 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $462,450,000 after buying an additional 396,705 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,893,031 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $513,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,206 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $364,892,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 2.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,780,266 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $203,616,000 after buying an additional 90,690 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Mizuho decreased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.88.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of LVS stock opened at $47.04 on Friday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $44.21 and a one year high of $70.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.27, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $30.47 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $46.69 and a 200-day moving average of $51.40.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.17). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 133.90% and a net margin of 12.59%.The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. Las Vegas Sands's revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is currently 46.69%.

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.

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