SG Americas Securities LLC Boosts Stock Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 2,655.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 878,022 shares of the casino operator’s stock after buying an additional 846,155 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $57,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 358.4% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 227,278 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $12,225,000 after acquiring an additional 177,695 shares during the period. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 124.4% in the second quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,003,880 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $43,679,000 after acquiring an additional 556,440 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,143,000. National Pension Service bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,262,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 78.0% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 102,576 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $5,518,000 after purchasing an additional 44,940 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Macquarie Infrastructure reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group increased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Barclays set a $64.00 target price on Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.55.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LVS opened at $54.87 on Wednesday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12-month low of $30.18 and a 12-month high of $70.45. The company has a market cap of $36.87 billion, a PE ratio of 23.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 91.40% and a net margin of 12.50%.The firm’s revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is 51.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Las Vegas Sands

In related news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total transaction of $3,294,033.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 511,942 shares in the company, valued at $28,028,824.50. The trade was a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Las Vegas Sands Profile

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) is a global developer and operator of integrated resorts, focused on large-scale properties that combine casino gaming with hotels, convention and exhibition facilities, retail, dining, and entertainment. The company’s operations center on developing and managing full-service resort complexes that serve both leisure and business travelers, with emphasis on convention and trade-show business in addition to gaming revenue streams.

The company’s portfolio has included prominent properties in North America and Asia, most notably The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, along with a significant presence in Macau through multiple integrated resorts.