Analysts Set Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) PT at $23.38

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.38.

Several equities research analysts have commented on LEVI shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. OTR Global initiated coverage on Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Friday, June 14th. They set a “positive” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target 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.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $19.93 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.11. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $12.41 and a 12-month high of $24.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.05. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 23.21%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.04 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a $0.13 dividend. This is an increase from Levi Strauss & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 148.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 154,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,952,508.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 12,498 shares of company stock valued at $236,421 over the last ninety days. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Levi Strauss & Co.

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LEVI. 272 Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the second quarter worth $35,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the second quarter worth $56,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the second quarter worth $135,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the second quarter worth $195,000. Finally, Susquehanna International Securities Ltd. bought a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. during the second quarter valued at $239,000. 69.14% of the stock is owned by 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.