Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.25

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the casino operator on Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20.

Las Vegas Sands has a dividend payout ratio of 25.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Las Vegas Sands to earn $2.80 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.6%.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 11.1 %

LVS traded up $4.83 during trading on Thursday, hitting $48.26. 11,353,237 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,213,416. Las Vegas Sands has a fifty-two week low of $36.62 and a fifty-two week high of $56.60. The stock has a market cap of $34.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.89, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50 day moving average is $49.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.04). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.26% and a net margin of 13.29%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Las Vegas Sands

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 24,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total value of $1,264,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 60,187 shares in the company, valued at $3,129,724. This trade represents a 28.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.02, for a total value of $3,191,114.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LVS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Macquarie upped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.25.

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.