Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Invests $3.88 Million in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 83,566 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $3,875,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 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. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4.8% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,582,962 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $462,450,000 after purchasing an additional 396,705 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,893,031 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $513,757,000 after buying an additional 1,246,206 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter valued at about $364,892,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 2.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,780,266 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $203,616,000 after buying an additional 90,690 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on LVS. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $78.50 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $62.00 target price (down from $73.00) on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Argus lowered Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $74.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Las Vegas Sands from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.88.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $46.97 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.27, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $30.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $46.64 and its 200-day moving average is $51.30. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $44.21 and a one year high of $70.45.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.17). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 133.90% and a net margin of 12.59%.The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.69%.

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.