Levi Strauss & Co. (LEVI) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.13 on February 28th

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 29th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be paid a dividend of 0.13 per share by the blue-jean maker on Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th.

Levi Strauss & Co. has raised its dividend by an average of 24.4% annually over the last three years. Levi Strauss & Co. has a payout ratio of 36.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Levi Strauss & Co. to earn $1.39 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 37.4%.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of LEVI opened at $18.43 on Monday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $15.62 and a fifty-two week high of $24.34. The firm has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $17.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.42.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 25.88% and a net margin of 3.32%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEVI has been the topic of several research reports. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total value of $76,821.04. Following the transaction, the director now owns 100,012 shares in the company, valued at $1,844,221.28. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 16,664 shares of company stock valued at $301,785. Company insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

Levi Strauss & Co engages in the design, marketing, and sale of apparel products. The company offers jeans, casual and dress pants, tops, shorts, skirts, jackets, footwear, and related accessories. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, and Asia. The company was founded by Levi Strauss in 1853 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.