Telsey Advisory Group Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Telsey Advisory Group reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Telsey Advisory Group currently has a $26.00 price target on the blue-jean maker’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on LEVI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America increased their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.75.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Up 0.8 %

LEVI stock opened at $18.65 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Levi Strauss & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $13.22 and a fifty-two week high of $24.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.33. The stock has a market cap of $7.41 billion, a PE ratio of 53.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.14.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 2nd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. Levi Strauss & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 29th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 148.57%.

Insider Transactions at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.15, for a total value of $79,778.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 154,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,952,508.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 25,002 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 229,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,583,520. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.15, for a total value of $79,778.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 154,178 shares in the company, valued at $2,952,508.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,334 shares of company stock worth $655,765. Insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.8% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 42,745 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $824,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the period. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 21,690 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $473,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 85,129 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $1,702,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Waycross Investment Management Co grew its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Waycross Investment Management Co now owns 38,195 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $736,000 after buying an additional 955 shares during the period. Finally, BTC Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,441 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 1,715 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.