Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Stock Rating Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Susquehanna set a $47.00 target price on Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.28.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 6.4%

Shares of NYSE LVS opened at $40.70 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $25.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.78. Las Vegas Sands has a 12-month low of $35.03 and a 12-month high of $70.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.73.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The casino operator reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 11.85% and a return on equity of 177.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.86 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 2nd will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 2nd. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.18%.

Institutional Trading of Las Vegas Sands

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. now owns 2,012 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 92,093 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $4,921,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the period. Center for Financial Planning Inc. increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,788 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 73.4% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 886 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 40,491 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $2,132,000 after buying an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Company Profile

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) is a global developer and operator of integrated resorts, combining hotel accommodations, casinos, convention and exhibition facilities, restaurants, retail outlets, entertainment venues and other leisure amenities. The company serves both mass-market and premium customers through large-scale properties designed to support tourism and business travel.

Las Vegas Sands’ principal operations are in Macau and Singapore. Its Macau portfolio includes properties such as The Venetian Macao, The Londoner Macao, The Parisian Macao, Sands Macao and The Plaza Macao.