Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $65.90 and last traded at $66.3690, with a volume of 5228 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $65.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on LVS. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Argus boosted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $52.50 to $58.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.13.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $44.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $54.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.00.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.16. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 73.14% and a net margin of 12.69%.The company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 700,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.88, for a total transaction of $41,216,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 2,000,000 shares of company stock valued at $119,719,200 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Las Vegas Sands

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. Total Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 48.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 512 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 37.5% during the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 876 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

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.