Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Stock Bumped Down to “Strong Sell” by Zacks Research

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

LVS has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Barclays dropped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Citigroup assumed coverage on Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Monday, October 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $71.50 price objective for the company. Finally, Susquehanna set a $47.00 price objective on Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.28.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 6.4%

NYSE:LVS opened at $40.70 on Tuesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $25.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.73. Las Vegas Sands has a 12 month low of $35.03 and a 12 month high of $70.45.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The casino operator reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.14). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 11.85% and a return on equity of 177.43%. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LVS. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,159,570 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $700,221,000 after acquiring an additional 919,452 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in 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. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 36.9% in the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 4,617,148 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $213,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,244,943 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,780,266 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $203,616,000 after purchasing an additional 90,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 3,748,681 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $201,979,000 after buying an additional 343,203 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.