Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Coverage Initiated at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) in a research report issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a "neutral" rating and a $47.00 price target on the casino operator's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s target price points to a potential upside of 12.03% from the company's current price.

LVS has been the topic of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Macquarie cut their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Las Vegas Sands to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $55.58.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of LVS traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $41.95. The stock had a trading volume of 3,226,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,966,228. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.59. Las Vegas Sands has a 12 month low of $30.18 and a 12 month high of $56.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.65 billion, a PE ratio of 23.31, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.03. The company's 50-day moving average is $39.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.78.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The firm 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%. Las Vegas Sands's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the casino operator to repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Las Vegas Sands

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,824,289 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $3,021,205,000 after acquiring an additional 12,304,533 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,249,208 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $1,593,457,000 after purchasing an additional 2,267,307 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,722,816 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $607,373,000 after purchasing an additional 592,321 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 55.7% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,218,581 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $730,295,000 after buying an additional 5,088,095 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,810,351 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $709,300,000 after buying an additional 160,711 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company's stock.

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.