Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has raised the price target for Las Vegas Sands from $50.00 to $57.00, suggesting a potential upside of 4.75% from its current price.
• Analysts are generally optimistic about the stock, with a consensus price target of $59.47 and an average rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Las Vegas Sands reported strong quarterly earnings with $0.79 earnings per share, exceeding expectations and reflecting a 15% year-over-year revenue increase.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by Morgan Stanley from $50.00 to $57.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the casino operator's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 4.75% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Macquarie raised their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Argus upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $59.47.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of LVS opened at $54.41 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $37.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $52.55 and a 200 day moving average of $44.38. Las Vegas Sands has a twelve month low of $30.18 and a twelve month high of $58.05.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.79 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.16% and a return on equity of 55.37%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Las Vegas Sands

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LVS. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 1st quarter worth about $183,836,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 2nd quarter worth about $134,179,000. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 36.8% in the 2nd quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 10,040,975 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $436,883,000 after buying an additional 2,698,398 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,249,208 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $1,593,457,000 after buying an additional 2,267,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4,226.7% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,012,800 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $44,067,000 after buying an additional 989,392 shares during the last quarter. 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.

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