Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.13 (NYSE:LEVI)

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 8th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Thursday, April 24th will be paid a dividend of 0.13 per share by the blue-jean maker on Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th.

Levi Strauss & Co. has raised its dividend payment by an average of 24.4% annually over the last three years. Levi Strauss & Co. has a payout ratio of 36.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Levi Strauss & Co. to earn $1.39 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.4%.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE LEVI opened at $12.52 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $16.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Levi Strauss & Co. has a twelve month low of $12.15 and a twelve month high of $24.34. The company has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.10. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 25.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. Levi Strauss & Co.’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total value of $76,821.04. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 100,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,844,221.28. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEVI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.36.

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.