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

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $19.18.

LEVI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. 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 on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE LEVI opened at $16.08 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.02. The company has a market cap of $6.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $12.17 and a 12-month high of $24.34.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.10. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 25.88%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is 58.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total transaction of $76,821.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 100,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,844,221.28. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Levi Strauss & Co.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 116,131 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $1,810,000 after buying an additional 1,689 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,639,565 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $26,856,000 after buying an additional 97,781 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 35.4% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,109 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 101.5% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,210 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC lifted its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC now owns 53,036 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $827,000 after buying an additional 2,240 shares in the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.