Analysts Set Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Target Price at $20.56

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.56.

Several brokerages have issued reports on LEVI. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, TheStreet raised Levi Strauss & Co. from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of LEVI stock opened at $20.56 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $18.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $12.41 and a 12-month high of $22.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.22.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 3rd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 20.68% and a net margin of 2.05%. The company had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 8th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 154.84%.

Insider Transactions at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other news, major shareholder Bradley J. Haas sold 14,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.05, for a total transaction of $309,030.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 35,415 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $708,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 179,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,588,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bradley J. Haas sold 14,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.05, for a total transaction of $309,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 168,727 shares of company stock valued at $3,275,016 in the last ninety days. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Levi Strauss & Co.

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LEVI. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,029,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,325,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 724.6% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,574,260 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $24,433,000 after buying an additional 1,383,339 shares during the last quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2,096.4% during the 3rd quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 1,252,500 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $17,009,000 after buying an additional 1,195,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 20.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,365,036 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $125,773,000 after buying an additional 1,084,969 shares during the last quarter. 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.