Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS Stock Position Reduced by Royal Bank of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reduced its holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. by 35.2%, selling 194,337 shares, and now owns 357,575 shares valued at approximately $13.8 million.
• Las Vegas Sands recently reported $0.79 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.53, alongside a 15% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25, representing a yield of 1.8%, and currently has a dividend payout ratio of 50.51%.

Royal Bank of Canada cut its holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 35.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 357,575 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 194,337 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.05% of Las Vegas Sands worth $13,813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Achmea Investment Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 55.4% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 18.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 6,057 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 69.3% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 567,101 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $21,907,000 after acquiring an additional 232,091 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.4% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,101,190 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $119,799,000 after acquiring an additional 12,593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the 1st quarter worth about $225,000. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LVS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Argus upgraded Las Vegas Sands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $59.47.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:LVS traded down $1.18 during trading on Friday, hitting $53.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,880,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,275,207. The company has a market capitalization of $36.75 billion, a PE ratio of 27.04, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.04. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $30.18 and a fifty-two week high of $58.05. 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 stock's 50-day moving average price is $52.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.51.

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

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

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

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.