Levi Strauss & Co.’s (LEVI) “Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Telsey Advisory Group

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by research analysts at Telsey Advisory Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $26.00 target price on the blue-jean maker’s stock. Telsey Advisory Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 34.02% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on LEVI. Bank of America raised their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. OTR Global started coverage on Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Friday, June 14th. They set a “positive” rating for the company. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.88.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Down 7.9 %

Shares of LEVI traded down $1.66 on Thursday, reaching $19.40. The stock had a trading volume of 6,190,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,236,455. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.34. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $12.41 and a 12-month high of $24.34.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 2nd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 23.21% and a net margin of 2.34%. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.15, for a total value of $79,778.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 154,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,952,508.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 25,002 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $500,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 229,176 shares in the company, valued at $4,583,520. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.15, for a total value of $79,778.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 154,178 shares in the company, valued at $2,952,508.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,334 shares of company stock valued at $655,765 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Levi Strauss & Co.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LEVI. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.8% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 42,745 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $824,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.0% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 85,129 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $1,702,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Waycross Investment Management Co lifted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2.6% in the second quarter. Waycross Investment Management Co now owns 38,195 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $736,000 after acquiring an additional 955 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 11.6% in the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,441 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 1,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 272 Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.