Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Buys 101,891 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 16.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 710,484 shares of the casino operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 101,891 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $32,817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LVS. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 254.8% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 557 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 182.4% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 672 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LVS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $74.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.88.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of LVS opened at $45.71 on Wednesday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1 year low of $44.21 and a 1 year high of $70.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.27, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.04. The firm has a market cap of $29.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.85.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.17). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 133.90% and a net margin of 12.59%.The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.69%.

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.