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

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.75.

A number of analysts have commented on the company. 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. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target 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, October 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 8,332 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $149,976.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 108,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,950,192. This trade represents a 7.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEVI. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,552,000. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,219,000. Shellback Capital LP purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. in the second quarter valued at approximately $482,000. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. during the third quarter worth approximately $1,673,000. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,690,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

LEVI opened at $17.32 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $17.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.86. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52-week low of $14.87 and a 52-week high of $24.34.

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

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 136.84%.

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.