Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires New Stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 53,051 shares of the casino operator's stock, valued at approximately $2,049,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake 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 worth $3,021,205,000 after purchasing an additional 12,304,533 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $730,295,000 after buying an additional 5,088,095 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter worth about $216,571,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,382,267 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $481,873,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 42.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,652,458 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $136,218,000 after acquiring an additional 793,789 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LVS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their price target 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. Macquarie cut their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Mizuho set a $47.00 target price on Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.15.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of LVS stock opened at $50.52 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $42.49 and a 200 day moving average of $42.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $30.18 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.70 billion, a PE ratio of 28.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.03.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the casino operator to reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands 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.

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