S&P 500 Addition Bolsters Struggling LVS Stock

Las Vegas Sands is set to replace Nektar Therapeutics on the S&P 500 next week

It was announced last night that casino name Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) will be joining the S&P 500 Index (SPX), replacing Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR), which is headed to the S&P MidCap 400 Index (MID), prior to the open next Thursday, Oct. 3. The equity is up 4.7% at $58.48 in response, set for its highest close in over a week, and its biggest one-day jump since early July.

The stock has been sliding on the charts since running out of steam just below its 320-day moving average -- finishing seven of the last eight sessions in the red. The stock managed a bounce off the round $55 region, however, and still boasts a roughly 12.4% year-to-date gain.

For the most part, the brokerage bunch has remained on the sidelines, with the majority of 11 analysts in coverage calling the stock a "hold." On the other hand, the consensus 12-month price target sits all the way up at $69.78 -- a level not touched since August 2018.

Meanwhile, short-term options traders are incredibly call-skewed on LVS, as evidenced by its Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.52, which sits in the low 4th percentile of its annual range. In the front-month series, peak open interest is found at the October 60 call, where it looks like most of the contracts were purchased.