Analysts Set Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Target Price at $23.38

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.38.

LEVI has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. OTR Global started coverage on Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Friday, June 14th. They set a “positive” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Thursday, June 27th.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of LEVI opened at $18.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.26, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.16. Levi Strauss & Co. has a twelve month low of $12.41 and a twelve month high of $24.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.90.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.45 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 23.21%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.04 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. This is a boost from Levi Strauss & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 148.57%.

Insider Transactions at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, major shareholder Bradley J. Haas sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.05, for a total value of $2,405,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.37, for a total value of $80,695.42. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 162,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,147,818.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bradley J. Haas sold 100,000 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.05, for a total transaction of $2,405,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 124,998 shares of company stock worth $2,960,626 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,391,385 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $138,794,000 after purchasing an additional 97,043 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,245,542 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $20,601,000 after buying an additional 196,270 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 230.0% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 56,934 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after buying an additional 39,683 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter worth $1,361,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 158.3% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 155,000 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $2,564,000 after buying an additional 95,000 shares in the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.