Aviance Capital Management LLC sold 18,805 shares of Las Vegas Sands Corporation in fourth quarter 2017, reducing its position in the company by 9.7 percent, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Before the sale, Aviance owned 174,216 shares of the casino operator’s stock. Its current holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $12,106,000 according to the SEC filing.
While Aviance reduced its position in the fourth quarter, Bessemer Group Incorporated increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 60.5 percent. It purchased an additional 779 shares for a total of 2,067 shares valued at $144,000.
Several other companies purchased new positions in Las Vegas Sands in third quarter 2017: San Francisco Sentry Investment Group CA, $181,000; Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC, $198,000; Chase Investment Counsel Corporation, $200,000. AE Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter valued at $222,000, with 37.34 percent of the stock owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corporation opened at $73.15 on February 14, Wednesday. It has a 52-week low of $51.35 and a 52-week high of $79.84. Its current ratio is 1.07, quick ratio is 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio is 1.38. Market capitalization is $57,820.00, price-to-earnings ratio is 20.66 and beta is 1.72.
In its latest quarterly earnings post on January 24, Las Vegas Sands reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.11. The company had a return on equity of 34.76 percent and a net margin of 21.78 percent. Revenue was $3.44 billion for the quarter; analysts expected $3.26 billion. Also in fourth quarter, Las Vegas Sands earned $0.62 earnings per share. Revenue increased 11.7 percent on a year-over-year basis. For the current fiscal year, analysts expect Las Vegas Sands will post 3.33 EPS.
The firm also recently announced it will pay a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 30. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 22 will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share; the previous quarterly dividend was $0.73. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 21st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10 percent. Las Vegas Sands’ dividend payout ratio is 82.49 percent.
In a research note on November 8, Zacks Investment Research raised Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective. In an October 25 report, Roth Capital set a “buy” rating and a $69.00 target price on the stock. On October 26, Gabelli increased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $68.00 with a “buy” rating. On January 9, Stifel Nicolaus repeated its “buy” rating and set a $76.00 target price on Las Vegas Sands shares. And on January 25, Bank of America increased their Las Vegas Sands target price from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating. Ten equities research analysts have given Las Vegas Sands stock a “hold” rating and 11 have issued a “buy” rating. Currently the stock has a consensus rating of “buy” and a consensus price target of $70.54.
Integrated resorts developer Las Vegas Sands Corporation owns and operates properties in Asia and the U.S.
