Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Short Interest Up 14.9% in August

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,870,000 shares, a growth of 14.9% from the July 31st total of 10,330,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 6,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LVS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Susquehanna cut their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $51.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group cut Las Vegas Sands from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $70.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Argus cut Las Vegas Sands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $55.67.

Institutional Trading of Las Vegas Sands

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the 1st quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Vestor Capital LLC bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

NYSE:LVS traded up $0.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $38.99. The stock had a trading volume of 12,254,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,540,399. Las Vegas Sands has a twelve month low of $36.62 and a twelve month high of $55.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market cap of $29.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.84, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.12. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $40.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.05.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The casino operator reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 44.41%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is presently 38.65%.

Las Vegas Sands Company 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.