Sunpointe LLC Has $1.21 Million Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Sunpointe LLC lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 190.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,600 shares of the casino operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,200 shares during the period. Sunpointe LLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $1,211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 48.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 549.5% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 182.4% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 672 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays set a $64.00 price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Macquarie Infrastructure restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.03.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

NYSE LVS opened at $55.54 on Wednesday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1 year low of $31.60 and a 1 year high of $70.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $36.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.74, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $55.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.87.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.50% and a return on equity of 91.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This is an increase from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total transaction of $3,294,033.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 511,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,028,824.50. This represents a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.55% 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.