Las Vegas Sands Declines on Valuation

New York (AP) — Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. slipped Wednesday as a Lehman Brothers analyst downgraded the casino operator’s stock, saying it is too expensive.

Analyst Felicia Hendrix wrote in a client note that she views Las Vegas Sands as a „concept“ stock, based on growth opportunities in China/Asia and unknown potential in Macau. She also wrote that she can’t come up with a new price target on concepts and is „uncomfortable with chasing the stock.“

As a result, she lowered her rating to „Equal Weight“ from „Overweight“ and maintained a price target of USD 100. Hendrix wrote that the stock may be worth more than USD 100, but „if we were to raise our price target now, we would be justifying our analysis with ‚concepts‘ rather than hard data.“

At the same time, Hendrix continued to back the company, saying Chief Executive Sheldon Adelson „will continue to create value for shareholders by seizing upon opportunities that others either overlook or do not have the creativity (or now experience) to address.“

Shares of Las Vegas Sands fell USD 4.95, or 3.6 percent, to close at USD 133.08 Wednesday. Over the past year, the stock has traded between USD 71.15 and USD 148.76.