Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Stock Position Boosted by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 4.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,094 shares of the casino operator’s stock after buying an additional 1,169 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $1,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,824,289 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $3,021,205,000 after acquiring an additional 12,304,533 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 55.7% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,218,581 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $730,295,000 after acquiring an additional 5,088,095 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter valued at about $216,571,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,382,267 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $481,873,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,662,548 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $598,988,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,963 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LVS. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Mizuho set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Macquarie reduced 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. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Las Vegas Sands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 6.1%

Shares of NYSE LVS opened at $42.77 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $30.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a fifty day moving average of $38.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.13. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52-week low of $30.18 and a 52-week high of $56.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the casino operator to repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.