National Bank of Canada FI Increases Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 13.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 163,589 shares of the casino operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,259 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $8,401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LVS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter valued at $216,571,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,382,267 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $481,873,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152,829 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,501,382 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $333,911,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577,042 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,662,548 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $598,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,221,000. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Macquarie lifted their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.42.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $33.38 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $42.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.66. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a twelve month low of $32.74 and a twelve month high of $56.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.94, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.04). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.76%.

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.