The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Raises Stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,652,411 shares of the casino operator's stock after purchasing an additional 24,989 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.78% of Las Vegas Sands worth $290,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,953,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 115,803 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $6,053,000 after buying an additional 11,261 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 33.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 548,072 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $27,590,000 after acquiring an additional 136,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 206.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,605 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,756 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LVS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price target on Las Vegas Sands and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Las Vegas Sands to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

LVS stock traded up $1.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $38.08. The stock had a trading volume of 6,355,730 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,061,057. The stock has a market cap of $26.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company's 50 day moving average price is $38.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.47. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $30.18 and a 1-year high of $56.61.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last released 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). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the casino operator to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.