Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $68.14 and last traded at $67.7860, with a volume of 1153929 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $65.67.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LVS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.60.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $57.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.42, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.14 billion, a PE ratio of 30.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 4th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP D. Zachary Hudson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total value of $6,499,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 13,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $892,637.65. This trade represents a 87.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 360,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.05, for a total transaction of $22,698,000.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,100,000 shares of company stock valued at $126,218,200. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the first quarter worth $183,836,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 410.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,167,553 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $277,963,000 after buying an additional 4,154,753 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the 2nd quarter worth $134,179,000. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 36.8% during the second quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 10,040,975 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $436,883,000 after acquiring an additional 2,698,398 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,249,208 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,593,457,000 after acquiring an additional 2,267,307 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

About Las Vegas Sands

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.