GAMMA Investing LLC Has $3.44 Million Stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 3,318.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,042 shares of the casino operator’s stock after buying an additional 86,437 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $3,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 45.6% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 760 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 63.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 885 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

NYSE LVS opened at $41.82 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a twelve month low of $30.18 and a twelve month high of $56.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.46.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 45.82%. The company had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the casino operator to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on LVS shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 target price on Las Vegas Sands and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Macquarie dropped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Mizuho set a $47.00 target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Company 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.