Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Sunday.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on LEVI. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a report on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.43.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:LEVI opened at $22.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.33. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $17.72 and a 12-month high of $25.70. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 8th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.04. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 25.79% and a net margin of 9.66%.The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Levi Strauss & Co. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.460-1.520 EPS. Analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 22nd were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 22nd. This is an increase from Levi Strauss & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, major shareholder Robert D. Haas sold 488,851 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.11, for a total transaction of $11,786,197.61. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder E. Haas Jr. Family Fund Peter sold 145,662 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $3,497,344.62. Following the transaction, the insider owned 145,662 shares in the company, valued at $3,497,344.62. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 1,196,009 shares of company stock valued at $28,114,170 in the last ninety days. 1.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Levi Strauss & Co.

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LEVI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,320,747 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $193,312,000 after purchasing an additional 342,009 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 462.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,839,861 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $89,489,000 after acquiring an additional 3,979,223 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,243,680 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $88,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296,474 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 9.3% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,457,702 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $80,564,000 after purchasing an additional 294,053 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the second quarter worth approximately $60,854,000. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Levi Strauss & Co. Company Profile

Levi Strauss & Co is a global apparel company best known for its denim jeans and casual wear. Founded in 1853 in San Francisco by Bavarian immigrant Levi Strauss, the company pioneered the modern blue jean with the introduction of rivet-reinforced work pants. Over its more than 160-year history, Levi Strauss has evolved into a lifestyle brand, offering a broad portfolio that includes denim for men, women and children, as well as tops, outerwear, footwear and accessories.

The company’s flagship label, Levi’s®, is recognized worldwide for its iconic styles such as the 501® Original Fit Jeans, while additional brands, including Dockers®, Target core metric, and Denizen® by Levi’s, cater to diverse price points and consumer segments.