Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC Sells 95,000 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Key Points

• Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC cut its Las Vegas Sands stake by 49.4% in the first quarter, selling 95,000 shares and leaving it with 97,500 shares valued at about $5.25 million.
• Las Vegas Sands reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.91 versus $0.76 expected and revenue of $3.58 billion, up 25.3% from a year earlier.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share and has a consensus Wall Street rating of Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $66.06.

Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC cut its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 49.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,500 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 95,000 shares during the quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC's holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $5,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Las Vegas Sands by 0.3% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 53,945 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $2,902,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 6,930 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,945 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,859 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $446,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $44.78 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $49.29 and a 200-day moving average of $54.26. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1 year low of $44.59 and a 1 year high of $70.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $29.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.83.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 118.27%. The business had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on LVS shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Seaport Research Partners decreased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $69.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $66.06.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.