Wall Street Zen Downgrades Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) to Hold

Key Points

• Las Vegas Sands has been downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating, reflecting a cautious outlook from analysts.
• Despite the downgrade, analysts from other firms have raised their target prices, with Bank of America increasing it from $52.50 to $58.00 and JPMorgan raising it from $47.00 to $56.00.
• The company reported earnings of $0.79 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing estimates of $0.53, and achieved a revenue increase of 15.0% year-over-year.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna cut their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Finally, Argus raised shares of Las Vegas Sands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One investment 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.00.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $55.21. The company had a trading volume of 4,841,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,839,122. The company has a market capitalization of $37.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.04. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.11. Las Vegas Sands has a 1-year low of $30.18 and a 1-year high of $58.05.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.83 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 55.37% and a net margin of 12.16%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 55.4% in the first quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 31,411 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $1,213,000 after buying an additional 11,197 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 18.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 39,005 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $1,489,000 after purchasing an additional 6,057 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,088,597 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $158,630,000 after purchasing an additional 339,992 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 69.3% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 567,101 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $21,907,000 after purchasing an additional 232,091 shares during the period. Finally, Everett Harris & Co. CA acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the first quarter worth approximately $657,000. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.