Appaloosa LP Lowers Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Key Points

• Appaloosa LP has reduced its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. by 34.4%, selling 310,000 shares and now owning 590,000 shares valued at approximately $22.8 million.
• Las Vegas Sands recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.79 EPS, which exceeded analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $3.18 billion, showing a 15% year-over-year increase.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 1.8% with a payout ratio of 50.51%.

Appaloosa LP lessened its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 34.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 590,000 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 310,000 shares during the quarter. Appaloosa LP owned 0.08% of Las Vegas Sands worth $22,792,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 55.4% during the first quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 31,411 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 11,197 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 18.4% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 39,005 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $1,489,000 after purchasing an additional 6,057 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 69.3% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 567,101 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $21,907,000 after purchasing an additional 232,091 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,101,190 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $119,799,000 after purchasing an additional 12,593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everett Harris & Co. CA purchased a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 1st quarter valued at about $657,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LVS has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Macquarie raised their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays raised their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Argus raised Las Vegas Sands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.00.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

NYSE:LVS traded down $1.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $53.71. 5,133,708 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,936,431. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.53, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.22. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $52.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.18. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1 year low of $30.18 and a 1 year high of $58.05. The company has a market cap of $36.87 billion, a PE ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.04.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.26. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.16% and a return on equity of 55.37%. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio is 50.51%.

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.