National Bank of Canada FI Grows Stock Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 13.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 163,589 shares of the casino operator’s stock after buying 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.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 32,948 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,707,000 after buying an additional 8,032 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,501,382 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $333,911,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577,042 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,810,351 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $709,300,000 after acquiring an additional 160,711 shares during the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 82.9% in the fourth quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 25,602 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 11,602 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 50,087 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $2,572,000 after purchasing an additional 8,326 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 8.3 %

Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $33.38 on Friday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1 year low of $32.74 and a 1 year high of $56.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $42.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.66. The firm has a market cap of $23.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.42.

Las Vegas Sands Profile

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.