Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Price Target Raised to $27.00

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) had its price target upped by Telsey Advisory Group from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the blue-jean maker’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.00.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

LEVI stock opened at $24.41 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.93, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.85. Levi Strauss & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $12.17 and a fifty-two week high of $24.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.09. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 28.75%. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 24th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 24th. This is a boost from Levi Strauss & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.90%.

Insider Transactions at Levi Strauss & Co.

In related news, major shareholder E. Haas Jr. Family Fund Peter sold 150,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total value of $3,628,500.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Margaret E. Haas sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.14, for a total transaction of $1,207,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 201,150 shares of company stock valued at $4,860,018 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Levi Strauss & Co.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LEVI. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 123,970.4% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,163,649 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $58,496,000 after acquiring an additional 3,166,203 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 65.1% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,110,200 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $48,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226,205 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 14.3% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,189,815 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $34,139,000 after purchasing an additional 273,247 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 83.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,958,271 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $36,208,000 after purchasing an additional 890,752 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 5.2% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,725,358 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $32,558,000 after purchasing an additional 85,793 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Company Profile

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.