Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Buys New Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 69,079 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $2,669,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,824,289 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $3,021,205,000 after purchasing an additional 12,304,533 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 55.7% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,218,581 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $730,295,000 after acquiring an additional 5,088,095 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,810,351 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $709,300,000 after acquiring an additional 160,711 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,662,548 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $598,988,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,963 shares during the period. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,382,267 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $481,873,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152,829 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on LVS shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Las Vegas Sands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho set a $47.00 price objective on Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price objective on Las Vegas Sands and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of LVS opened at $40.20 on Monday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1 year low of $30.18 and a 1 year high of $56.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.53. The stock has a market cap of $28.41 billion, a PE ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.03.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued 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 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. The company had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the casino operator to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is 55.56%.

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.