Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Receives $21.27 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.27.

LEVI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays dropped their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LEVI opened at $17.79 on Friday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $15.62 and a 12-month high of $24.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $17.75 and a 200 day moving average of $18.20.

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

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Levi Strauss & Co.

In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 8,332 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $149,976.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 108,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,950,192. This represents a 7.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,664 shares of company stock valued at $301,785. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 44.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,420,007 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $205,356,000 after acquiring an additional 2,907,099 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,824,983 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $152,672,000 after purchasing an additional 133,978 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,608,253 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $27,823,000 after purchasing an additional 219,546 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 59.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,555,382 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $33,907,000 after purchasing an additional 579,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 119.8% during 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 in the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.