Vident Advisory LLC Takes Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Key Points

• Vident Advisory LLC has acquired approximately 52,768 shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp., valued at about $2,038,000, as per their latest filing with the SEC.
• Las Vegas Sands reported earnings of $0.79 per share for the last quarter, surpassing the estimated $0.53, with annual revenue growth of 15.0% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, yielding around 1.7%, with a payout ratio of 50.51%.

Vident Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 52,768 shares of the casino operator's stock, valued at approximately $2,038,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LVS. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 55.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 5,088,095 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the first quarter valued at approximately $183,836,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 5.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,249,208 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $1,593,457,000 after purchasing an additional 2,267,307 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 12.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 841,195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 9.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,442,798 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $364,775,000 after purchasing an additional 790,952 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on LVS. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $52.50 to $58.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $59.00.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 2.5%

LVS stock traded down $1.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $53.71. The company had a trading volume of 5,133,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,936,431. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1 year low of $30.18 and a 1 year high of $58.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.53. The company has a market capitalization of $36.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.13, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.18.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. The company's revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

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