Las Vegas Sands will sell its Las Vegas properties for around $6.25 billion
The shares of Las Vegas Sands Corporation (NYSE:LVS) are up 1.9% at $66.15 at last check, after the casino and resort giant said it plans to sell its Las Vegas properties, including the Venetian Resort Las Vegas, to Apollo Global Management (APO) and VICI Properties (VICI) for close to $6.25 billion. The company plans to then shift its attention towards Asia, where the Singapore and Macau locations already generate the most revenue.
Today's positive price action has LVS extending yesterday's annual high of $65.19, while overcoming pressure at the $65 level. Steadily rising since its late-January lows were caught by the $47.50 level, the stock has regained support from the 10-day moving average, and is up 10.9% year-to-date.
The brokerage bunch is still split towards Las Vegas Sands stock. Of the nine analysts in coverage, five carried a tepid "hold" rating, while four said "strong buy." Meanwhile, the equity's 12-month consensus price target of $61.77 is a 7% discount to current levels.
The options pits, on the other hand, have been overwhelmingly bullish. The security's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 9.46 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) stands higher than all but 1% of readings from the past year. This indicates long calls are getting picked up at a faster-than-usual rate in the last 10 weeks.
These premiums are attractively priced at the moment, too, per the stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 43%, which sits in the extremely low 4th percentile of readings from the past year. In other words, options players are currently pricing in relatively low volatility expectations.