Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Given “Outperform” Rating at Telsey Advisory Group

Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Telsey Advisory Group currently has a $26.00 price objective on the blue-jean maker’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on LEVI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.75.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE LEVI opened at $18.66 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $19.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.42 billion, a PE ratio of 53.31, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.14. Levi Strauss & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $13.22 and a fifty-two week high of $24.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 2nd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 2.52%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 29th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 148.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.23, for a total transaction of $75,946.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 158,344 shares in the company, valued at $2,886,611.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 25,002 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $500,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 229,176 shares in the company, valued at $4,583,520. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.23, for a total transaction of $75,946.18. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 158,344 shares in the company, valued at $2,886,611.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 33,334 shares of company stock valued at $655,765. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LEVI. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 42,745 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $824,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 21,690 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $473,000 after buying an additional 765 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 85,129 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $1,702,000 after buying an additional 851 shares during the period. Waycross Investment Management Co grew its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Waycross Investment Management Co now owns 38,195 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $736,000 after buying an additional 955 shares during the period. Finally, BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,441 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 1,715 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.