Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Makes New Investment in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 88,599 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $5,137,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LVS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,537,902 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,381,358,000 after purchasing an additional 519,620 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,298,767 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,338,514,000 after purchasing an additional 330,221 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 2.9% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,898,679 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $540,242,000 after acquiring an additional 394,616 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,567,353 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $554,906,000 after acquiring an additional 325,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,391,096 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $482,068,000 after purchasing an additional 666,588 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

NYSE LVS opened at $49.08 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $47.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.73. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a twelve month low of $41.42 and a twelve month high of $65.58. The company has a market capitalization of $37.52 billion, a PE ratio of 55.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.82.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 18th. The casino operator reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.55. The company had revenue of $2.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 21.05% and a net margin of 7.81%. The firm’s revenue was up 178.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.27) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 18th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the casino operator to reacquire up to 5.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 7th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on LVS. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 19th. StockNews.com started coverage on Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $71.00 to $64.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.68.

Las Vegas Sands 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.