Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Invests $17.02 Million in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 331,473 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $17,024,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Interval Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter worth about $36,690,000. J. Goldman & Co LP boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 779.3% during the 4th quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP now owns 260,841 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $13,397,000 after purchasing an additional 231,178 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 55.7% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,218,581 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $730,295,000 after purchasing an additional 5,088,095 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 29,955 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after acquiring an additional 1,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concentric Capital Strategies LP bought a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,635,000. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $39.80 on Monday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52 week low of $30.18 and a 52 week high of $56.61. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $37.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.86. 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 stock has a market cap of $28.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. Las Vegas Sands’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the casino operator to buy up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LVS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Las Vegas Sands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.75.

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.