Short Interest in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Drops By 15.3%

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) saw a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 19,240,000 shares, a decrease of 15.3% from the February 13th total of 22,720,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,100,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days. Currently, 5.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 73.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 583 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 1.5 %

LVS stock traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $43.92. The stock had a trading volume of 4,339,147 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,572,839. The firm has a market cap of $31.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.07. Las Vegas Sands has a twelve month low of $36.62 and a twelve month high of $56.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.72.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 expect that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is currently 50.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on LVS. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $60.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.42.

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.