Ethic Inc. Raises Stock Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Ethic Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 15.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,849 shares of the casino operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,460 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $738,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 7,773 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 11,686 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 22,870 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $883,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 40,250 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,554,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 26,848 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,037,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 0.0%

LVS stock opened at $53.5940 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $48.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.10. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12 month low of $30.18 and a 12 month high of $56.60. The company has a market cap of $36.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.53, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.21.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.16% and a return on equity of 55.37%. Las Vegas Sands’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is currently 50.51%.

Las Vegas Sands declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the casino operator to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LVS. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.33.

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.