Analysts Set Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Price Target at $21.56

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.33.

LEVI has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group increased their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Down 1.4 %

LEVI opened at $19.28 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.34. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52 week low of $12.41 and a 52 week high of $24.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $7.67 billion, a PE ratio of 55.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.19.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 23.21% and a net margin of 2.34%. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.04 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This is a positive change from Levi Strauss & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 137.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 10,422 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $208,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 169,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,380,160. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 16,666 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 166,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,990,223.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David A. Friedman sold 10,422 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $208,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 169,008 shares in the company, valued at $3,380,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 772,263 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,670. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Levi Strauss & Co.

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LEVI. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $215,000. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $223,000. BTC Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at about $294,000. Isthmus Partners LLC purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $270,000. Finally, Washington Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the first quarter worth approximately $330,000. Institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

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.