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

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.33.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. OTR Global started coverage on Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Friday, June 14th. They issued a “positive” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th.

Insider Activity at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, major shareholder Bradley J. Haas sold 14,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.05, for a total transaction of $309,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Bradley J. Haas sold 14,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.05, for a total value of $309,030.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David A. Friedman sold 16,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.94, for a total transaction of $398,984.04. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 166,676 shares in the company, valued at $3,990,223.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 734,882 shares of company stock valued at $16,505,276. 3.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System grew 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 purchasing an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,502 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 4,202 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 69.2% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 18,965 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 7,757 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,555,997 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $171,034,000 after buying an additional 164,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 96.3% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 69,999 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $1,399,000 after acquiring an additional 34,347 shares during the period. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:LEVI opened at $19.22 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $7.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.19. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $22.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.39. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52-week low of $12.41 and a 52-week high of $24.34.

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

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. 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 dividend yield of 2.71%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 148.57%.

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.