Las Vegas Sands Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:LVS)

Key Points

• Las Vegas Sands experienced a significant spike in options trading, with investors purchasing 24,920 call options, a 57% increase from the average volume.
• Several analysts boosted their price targets for Las Vegas Sands, with JPMorgan raising it to $56.00 and UBS increasing it to $55.00, reflecting positive sentiment surrounding the stock.
• The company reported earnings surpassing estimates with $0.79 earnings per share for the last quarter, a 15% revenue increase year-over-year, amounting to $3.18 billion.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders acquired 24,920 call options on the company. Thisisanincreaseofapproximately57% compared to the typical daily volume of 15,834 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LVS. Wall Street Zen raised Las Vegas Sands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Argus upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho boosted their target price 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. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.00.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

NYSE LVS traded up $1.00 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $57.70. The company had a trading volume of 3,126,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,938,343. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.53, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.22. Las Vegas Sands has a 1-year low of $30.18 and a 1-year high of $57.74. The company has a market cap of $39.61 billion, a PE ratio of 29.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50 day moving average of $50.49 and a 200-day moving average of $43.62.

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

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 0.3% during the second quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 61,993 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $2,697,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 37.5% in the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 876 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 21.4% in the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,401 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 1.5% in the second quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 18,189 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $791,000 after buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 31.3% in the second quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,440 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 343 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.