Las Vegas Sands Trading up More Than 6%

Shares of casino operator Las Vegas Sands

are having a strong session a day after the company released its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings results. At last check, the stock had climbed more than 6 percent and was trading at $54.92, near highs of the day. The company reported adjusted net income of $450.5 million or $0.54 per share, compared to $460.9 million or $0.57 per share, in the year ago period. This missed Wall Street analysts' consensus EPS estimates of $0.59. Net revenue in the period was $3.08 billion an increase of almost 21% versus the $2.54 billion that Las Vegas Sands reported in last year's fourth-quarter. This beat analysts' consensus revenue estimates of $3.01 billion. Las Vegas Sands said that its board of directors approved an increase of its dividend by 40 percent to $0.35 per share or $1.40 per share on an annual basis. The company also paid a special dividend of $2.75 per share in the fourth-quarter. The stock is up a little less than 12 percent over the last year, but has been riding a strong uptrend in recent months. Year-to-date, shares have already climbed more than 19 percent giving the company a market cap of more than $45 billion at current levels.