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

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 29th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a dividend of 0.13 per share by the blue-jean maker on Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th.

Levi Strauss & Co. has increased its dividend by an average of 24.4% per year over the last three years. Levi Strauss & Co. has a payout ratio of 33.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Levi Strauss & Co. to earn $1.38 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 37.7%.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Up 5.1 %

Shares of NYSE LEVI traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $19.01. 6,754,252 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,048,209. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.17. Levi Strauss & Co. has a twelve month low of $15.62 and a twelve month 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. The company has a market cap of $7.54 billion, a PE ratio of 50.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.16.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 2.52%. Research analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEVI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup lowered their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $74,988.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 104,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,875,204. The trade was a 3.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.