Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group cut its Las Vegas Sands stake by 10.5% in the second quarter, selling 44,848 shares and retaining 381,876 shares valued at approximately $17.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 39.16% of LVS.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans toward caution: Las Vegas Sands has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $61.88, while several firms recently lowered their targets.
• LVS reported quarterly earnings of $0.59 per share, below the $0.76 consensus estimate, while revenue of $3.15 billion also missed expectations. Shares opened at $46.21, and the company maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.30, yielding about 2.6% annually.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 381,876 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 44,848 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Las Vegas Sands worth $17,639,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 254.8% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 557 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 182.4% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 672 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LVS. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Las Vegas Sands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Las Vegas Sands from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.88.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $46.21 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $47.17 and a 200 day moving average of $51.80. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12 month low of $44.21 and a 12 month high of $70.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.27, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

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

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

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