Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.13

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 3rd, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th will be paid a dividend of 0.13 per share by the blue-jean maker on Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 29th.

Levi Strauss & Co. has increased its dividend payment by an average of 44.2% annually over the last three years. Levi Strauss & Co. has a dividend payout ratio of 36.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Levi Strauss & Co. to earn $1.43 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 36.4%.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

LEVI stock traded down $1.70 during trading on Thursday, hitting $19.36. The company had a trading volume of 8,834,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,253,097. The business has a 50 day moving average of $19.11 and a 200 day moving average of $20.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.14. 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. has a fifty-two week low of $12.41 and a fifty-two week high of $24.34.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 2nd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 23.21%. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on LEVI shares. OTR Global initiated coverage on Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Friday, June 14th. They issued a “positive” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.15, for a total transaction of $79,778.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 154,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,952,508.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 25,002 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $500,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 229,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,583,520. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.15, for a total value of $79,778.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 154,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,952,508.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,334 shares of company stock valued at $655,765. Company insiders own 3.14% 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.