Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Price Target to $17.00

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) had its price objective cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $20.00 to $17.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the blue-jean maker’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on LEVI. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a report on Friday, January 24th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Levi Strauss & Co. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.36.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 5.1 %

LEVI opened at $19.01 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $17.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.17. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52 week low of $15.62 and a 52 week high of $24.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $7.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.16.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 26.00% and a net margin of 3.32%. On average, research analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $74,988.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 104,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,875,204. This trade represents a 3.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Levi Strauss & Co.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 2,083.0% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,923,206 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $37,079,000 after buying an additional 1,835,107 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth about $56,000. Washington Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 69.7% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,000 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $610,000 after acquiring an additional 11,500 shares during the period. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 3.7% in the third quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 21,690 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $473,000 after acquiring an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 15.2% in the third quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 49,514 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 6,528 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

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.