Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Holdings Boosted by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 291,671 shares of the casino operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,560 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $11,267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Center for Financial Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the first quarter valued at $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 63.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 885 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the period. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of LVS stock opened at $47.99 on Friday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1 year low of $30.18 and a 1 year high of $56.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.59. The business’s fifty day moving average is $41.21 and its 200-day moving average is $42.35. The stock has a market cap of $33.91 billion, a PE ratio of 26.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.03.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.91% and a net margin of 11.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. Las Vegas Sands’s revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 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 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is currently 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the casino operator to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LVS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Mizuho set a $47.00 price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price target on Las Vegas Sands and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Macquarie decreased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.58.

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.