Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 44.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,710 shares of the casino operator's stock after buying an additional 8,529 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $1,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,824,289 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $3,021,205,000 after buying an additional 12,304,533 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 55.7% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,218,581 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $730,295,000 after buying an additional 5,088,095 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter worth $216,571,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,382,267 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $481,873,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 12.9% in the first quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 7,342,577 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $283,644,000 after buying an additional 841,195 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on LVS shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price objective on Las Vegas Sands and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Hsbc Global Res raised Las Vegas Sands to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Mizuho set a $47.00 price objective on Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.31.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of LVS traded down $0.23 on Thursday, hitting $48.89. 8,021,374 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,863,194. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1 year low of $30.18 and a 1 year high of $56.61. The stock's 50 day moving average is $43.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.19.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 44.91%. The business had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the casino operator to reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands Company 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.