Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Buys New Shares in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 19,030 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,025,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 222.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 6,279,390 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 58.4% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,186,257 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $532,843,000 after acquiring an additional 3,018,704 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,893,031 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $513,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,206 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter worth $364,892,000. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP raised its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 10.1% during the first quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 3,748,681 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $201,979,000 after purchasing an additional 343,203 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of LVS stock opened at $45.62 on Friday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $44.22 and a 1-year high of $70.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64. The company has a market capitalization of $30.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.96.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 13.41%.The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group set a $52.00 price objective on Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $73.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.19.

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.