Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.27.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup decreased their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group cut their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th.

Insider Activity at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total transaction of $76,821.04. Following the transaction, the director now owns 100,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,844,221.28. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 44.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,420,007 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $205,356,000 after purchasing an additional 2,907,099 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 560.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,883,995 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $32,593,000 after purchasing an additional 1,598,523 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1,079.9% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,432,127 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $24,776,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310,748 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 119.8% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,541,784 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $26,858,000 after purchasing an additional 840,251 shares during the period. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 164.4% during the 4th quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 1,312,150 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $22,700,000 after purchasing an additional 815,950 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $17.22 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.24. Levi Strauss & Co. has a twelve month low of $15.62 and a twelve month high of $24.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.42.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 25.88% and a net margin of 3.32%. As a group, research analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Levi Strauss & Co. Company Profile

Levi Strauss & Co engages in the design, marketing, and sale of apparel products. The company offers jeans, casual and dress pants, tops, shorts, skirts, jackets, footwear, and related accessories. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, and Asia. The company was founded by Levi Strauss in 1853 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.