Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.56.

LEVI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. OTR Global assumed coverage on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a report on Friday, June 14th. They set a “positive” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th.

Insider Activity at Levi Strauss & Co.

In related news, EVP Harmit J. Singh sold 346,555 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.21, for a total value of $7,696,986.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 525,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,667,734.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 16,666 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.94, for a total value of $398,984.04. Following the sale, the director now owns 166,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,990,223.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Harmit J. Singh sold 346,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.21, for a total transaction of $7,696,986.55. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 525,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,667,734.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 772,263 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,670 over the last 90 days. 3.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Levi Strauss & Co.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LEVI. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,626,322 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $117,145,000 after acquiring an additional 610,838 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,555,997 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $171,034,000 after purchasing an additional 164,612 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,625,378 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $109,584,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,000 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,913,865 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $80,310,000 after buying an additional 105,924 shares during the period. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the 4th quarter worth $24,325,000. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $23.15 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.68, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.19. Levi Strauss & Co. has a one year low of $12.41 and a one year high of $24.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $22.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.28.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 3rd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 2.05% and a return on equity of 20.68%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 8th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 154.84%.

Levi Strauss & Co. Company Profile

Levi Strauss & Co designs, markets, and sells apparels and related accessories for men, women, and children worldwide. The company offers jeans, casual and dress pants, activewears, tops, shorts, skirts, dresses, jumpsuits, shirts, sweaters, jackets, footwear, and related accessories under the Levi's, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co, Denizen, and Beyond Yoga brands.