Cetera Investment Advisers Buys 3,101 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,757 shares of the casino operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,101 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $1,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 583 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings 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 valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LVS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho set a $47.00 target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, 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. Four research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $40.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $28.31 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12-month low of $30.18 and a 12-month high of $56.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.30.

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). The company had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 45.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the casino operator to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is 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.