The Goldman Sachs Group Begins Coverage on Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS)

The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $52.00 target price on the casino operator's stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on LVS. Mizuho set a $47.00 price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Macquarie lowered their price target 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.31.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE LVS traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $48.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,285,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,878,609. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.19. The stock has a market cap of $34.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.03. Las Vegas Sands has a 52 week low of $30.18 and a 52 week high of $56.61. 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 (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 44.91%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is currently 55.56%.

Institutional Trading of Las Vegas Sands

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LVS. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the first quarter worth about $647,000. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 1,322,538 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $51,090,000 after buying an additional 178,526 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 62,448 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $2,412,000 after buying an additional 3,588 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 15,006 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $580,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optimize Financial Inc grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 16.7% in the first quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 15,490 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $598,000 after acquiring an additional 2,212 shares in 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.