Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Short Interest Update

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) saw a significant drop in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,570,000 shares, a drop of 14.6% from the May 31st total of 8,860,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,760,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on LEVI shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.33.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LEVI opened at $19.28 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.09, a PEG ratio of 1.11 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $22.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.42.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 23.21%. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.04 EPS. Analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is a positive change from Levi Strauss & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 137.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, EVP Harmit J. Singh sold 346,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.21, for a total transaction of $7,696,986.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 525,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,667,734.77. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, EVP Harmit J. Singh sold 346,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.21, for a total transaction of $7,696,986.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 525,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,667,734.77. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bradley J. Haas sold 26,959 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.14, for a total transaction of $542,954.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 772,263 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,670. 3.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Levi Strauss & Co.

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LEVI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 538,163 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $7,308,000 after purchasing an additional 26,902 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 40.2% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 49,879 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $677,000 after buying an additional 14,295 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,834,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 152,262 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $2,068,000 after buying an additional 2,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth about $442,000. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

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.