Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 1,503 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 2.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 73,845 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 1,503 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $2,853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LVS. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 6,505 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,595 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. RiverFront Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 10,257 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 10,200 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $521,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, Samalin Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 4,343 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LVS. Macquarie lowered their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Las Vegas Sands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.58.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LVS opened at $42.91 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $30.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.03. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a twelve month low of $30.18 and a twelve month high of $56.61. The company’s 50 day moving average is $39.78 and its 200 day moving average is $42.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.91% and a net margin of 11.64%. Las Vegas Sands’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the casino operator to buy up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands 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.