Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.4545.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on LEVI shares. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective (up previously from $20.00) on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 49.2% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 74,599 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 24,612 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth about $307,000. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 17,721.6% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 6,594 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 6,557 shares during the period. Oxford Asset Management LLP bought a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth about $347,000. Finally, Man Group plc boosted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 170.6% in the 2nd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 198,510 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $3,670,000 after purchasing an additional 125,150 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:LEVI opened at $22.38 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.85 billion, a PE ratio of 21.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $20.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.88. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1 year low of $12.17 and a 1 year high of $22.61.

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

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 24th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 24th. This is a positive change from Levi Strauss & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.90%.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

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.