Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Hsbc Global Res

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) was upgraded by stock analysts at Hsbc Global Res to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $60.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Mizuho set a $47.00 price target on Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE LVS opened at $35.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Las Vegas Sands has a one year low of $30.18 and a one year high of $56.61.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. The company had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. Research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the casino operator to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Las Vegas Sands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 6,505 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 45.6% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 760 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 73.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 583 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RiverFront Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 10,257 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 257 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.