Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Given Hold Rating at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group reissued their hold rating on shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a $61.00 target price on the casino operator’s stock, down from their previous target price of $72.00.

LVS has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Seaport Research Partners decreased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.86.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

LVS opened at $54.39 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $55.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58. Las Vegas Sands 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.08. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 91.40% and a net margin of 12.50%.The firm had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands 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. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is presently 51.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total value of $3,294,033.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 511,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,028,824.50. The trade was a 10.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Las Vegas Sands

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LVS. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 222.7% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,098,518 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $592,223,000 after buying an additional 6,279,390 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter valued at $364,892,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 410.2% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,167,553 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $277,963,000 after buying an additional 4,154,753 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 33,102.6% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,060,288 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $197,463,000 after buying an additional 3,051,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 43.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,454,013 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $293,371,000 after buying an additional 1,660,823 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

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.