Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Short Interest Down 12.6% in May

by · The Markets Daily

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,510,000 shares, a decline of 12.6% from the April 30th total of 17,750,000 shares. Currently, 4.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 6,220,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Macquarie cut their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price objective on Las Vegas Sands and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Hsbc Global Res raised Las Vegas Sands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.75.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on LVS

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of LVS stock opened at $40.25 on Friday. Las Vegas Sands has a twelve month low of $30.18 and a twelve month high of $56.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. Las Vegas Sands’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands declared that its board has initiated a stock 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,824,289 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $3,021,205,000 after purchasing an additional 12,304,533 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 55.7% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,218,581 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $730,295,000 after acquiring an additional 5,088,095 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the first quarter valued at about $183,836,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter valued at about $216,571,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,249,208 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,593,457,000 after acquiring an additional 2,267,307 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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