Voya Investment Management LLC Buys 178,526 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. by 15.6%, acquiring an additional 178,526 shares in the first quarter, bringing its total to approximately 1.32 million shares valued at $51.09 million.
• Several analysts have recently upgraded Las Vegas Sands, with Wall Street Zen and Argus both changing their rating from "hold" to "buy," contributing to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $59.47.
• Las Vegas Sands reported a significant year-over-year revenue increase of 15% for the last quarter, with earnings per share of $0.79, surpassing estimates of $0.53.

Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 15.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,322,538 shares of the casino operator's stock after buying an additional 178,526 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned about 0.19% of Las Vegas Sands worth $51,090,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LVS. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $183,836,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,249,208 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $1,593,457,000 after buying an additional 2,267,307 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 12.9% in the 1st 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. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,442,798 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $364,775,000 after buying an additional 790,952 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,415,492 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $479,610,000 after buying an additional 752,944 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of LVS stock traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $52.53. 1,244,632 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,552,081. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $30.18 and a fifty-two week high of $58.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $53.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.53.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LVS. Mizuho upped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Argus raised Las Vegas Sands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.47.

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.