David A. Friedman Sells 25,002 Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Stock

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Director David A. Friedman sold 25,002 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $500,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 229,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,583,520. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:LEVI opened at $19.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $7.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $18.62 and its 200-day moving average is $20.16. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1-year low of $12.41 and a 1-year high of $24.34.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.16 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.45 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 23.21% and a net margin of 2.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.04 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This is a boost from Levi Strauss & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 148.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on LEVI. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Levi Strauss & Co. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.38.

Institutional Trading of Levi Strauss & Co.

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,391,385 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $138,794,000 after acquiring an additional 97,043 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,245,542 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $20,601,000 after acquiring an additional 196,270 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 230.0% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 56,934 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after acquiring an additional 39,683 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,361,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 158.3% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 155,000 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $2,564,000 after buying an additional 95,000 shares in the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by 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.