Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Acquires 1,660,823 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 43.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,454,013 shares of the casino operator’s stock after buying an additional 1,660,823 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned about 0.81% of Las Vegas Sands worth $293,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Total Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 48.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 512 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 549.5% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 630 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 78.4% during the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 710 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

LVS stock opened at $54.25 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58. The firm has a market cap of $36.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.19, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.99. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12-month low of $30.18 and a 12-month high of $70.45.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 91.40% and a net margin of 12.50%.The firm’s revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is presently 51.28%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 1,198,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.68, for a total value of $79,925,982.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Miriam Adelson sold 77,991 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $5,269,071.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 23,333,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,576,407,273.96. The trade was a 0.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 2,460,896 shares of company stock worth $164,177,676 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LVS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus cut their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Macquarie Infrastructure reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $67.50 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.55.

About Las Vegas Sands

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) is a global developer and operator of integrated resorts, focused on large-scale properties that combine casino gaming with hotels, convention and exhibition facilities, retail, dining, and entertainment. The company’s operations center on developing and managing full-service resort complexes that serve both leisure and business travelers, with emphasis on convention and trade-show business in addition to gaming revenue streams.

The company’s portfolio has included prominent properties in North America and Asia, most notably The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, along with a significant presence in Macau through multiple integrated resorts.