Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Shares Purchased by Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 29.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,382,267 shares of the casino operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,152,829 shares during the period. Las Vegas Sands makes up 1.6% of Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $481,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 583 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 63.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 885 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LVS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Macquarie boosted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.42.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $38.15 on Friday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $36.62 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61. The company has a market capitalization of $27.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.36, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.76. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 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, analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. 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%.

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.