Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS – Get Rating) in a report released on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the casino operator’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on LVS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Monday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $73.50 to $76.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, CBRE Group upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $68.00 in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $64.00.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of LVS stock opened at $54.69 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.81. The firm has a market cap of $41.80 billion, a PE ratio of 22.79, a P/E/G ratio of 15.57 and a beta of 1.16. Las Vegas Sands has a 12 month low of $28.88 and a 12 month high of $60.99.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The casino operator reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.10). Las Vegas Sands had a negative return on equity of 22.49% and a net margin of 44.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.22) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands will post 1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LVS. First Republic Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 218.2% during the third quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 76,324 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $2,864,000 after purchasing an additional 52,338 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 1.5% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 87,554 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $3,285,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter worth about $334,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 489.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 862,354 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $32,354,000 after purchasing an additional 715,946 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 7.1% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 293,111 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $10,998,000 after purchasing an additional 19,359 shares during the period. 39.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Las Vegas Sands

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Las Vegas Sands Corp. engages in the development of destination properties. The firm operates through the Macao and Singapore geographical segments. The Macao segment handles the operations of The Venetian Macao, The Londoner Macao, The Parisian Macao, The Plaza Macao and Four Seasons Macao, and Sands Macao.