Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Receives $55.31 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $55.31.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on LVS shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Macquarie dropped 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 report on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Monday, June 23rd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $47.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho set a $47.00 target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, April 24th.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LVS traded down $0.23 on Thursday, hitting $48.89. The company had a trading volume of 8,021,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,863,196. Las Vegas Sands has a 1-year low of $30.18 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The stock has a market cap of $34.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $43.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. The company's revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the casino operator to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Las Vegas Sands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter worth $1,889,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 40.8% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,341 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 1,839 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,023 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 55,848 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $2,868,000 after acquiring an additional 6,790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 10,200 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $521,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company's stock.

About Las Vegas Sands

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.