Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $65.00. The stock had previously closed at $50.23, but opened at $48.09. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Las Vegas Sands shares last traded at $46.05, with a volume of 3,403,061 shares trading hands.

Several other brokerages have also commented on LVS. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.47.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.06, for a total transaction of $5,206,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,996,020.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LVS. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,638,753 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,556,945,000 after acquiring an additional 5,439,735 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at about $266,538,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,898,186 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,815,760,000 after buying an additional 4,264,043 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 214.5% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 3,110,574 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $153,071,000 after buying an additional 2,121,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Lim Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 296.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Lim Capital Ltd now owns 2,575,000 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $118,038,000 after buying an additional 1,925,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 0.9 %

The business’s fifty day moving average is $52.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.59. The company has a market cap of $34.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.31.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The casino operator reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.13. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 41.81%. The company had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.65%.

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.