Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) was upgraded by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $60.00 target price on the casino operator’s stock, up from their prior target price of $56.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 23.58% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on LVS. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 7th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.47.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of LVS opened at $48.55 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $53.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.08. Las Vegas Sands has a 52-week low of $30.18 and a 52-week high of $58.05. The firm has a market cap of $33.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.52, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.53.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.26. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 55.37% and a net margin of 12.16%.The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. Las Vegas Sands’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the third quarter worth $224,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 5.4% in the third quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 1,579,505 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $84,962,000 after buying an additional 81,414 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 4.4% in the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 12,163 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $654,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the third quarter worth $294,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 78.0% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 102,576 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $5,518,000 after purchasing an additional 44,940 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.