Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Receives $22.75 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.75.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on LEVI shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 8,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $149,976.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 108,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,950,192. This represents a 7.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Levi Strauss & Co.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEVI. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 44.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,420,007 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $205,356,000 after buying an additional 2,907,099 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 21.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,274,326 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $82,409,000 after acquiring an additional 756,926 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2,083.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,923,206 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $37,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835,107 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 59.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,555,382 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $33,907,000 after purchasing an additional 579,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2,070.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,431,518 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $27,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,365,574 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $17.39 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.94. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1-year low of $14.87 and a 1-year high of $24.34.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 2nd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 2.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 136.84%.

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.