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

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) had its price objective raised by Bank of America from $26.00 to $27.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the blue-jean maker’s stock.

LEVI has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.00.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $24.41 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.81. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $12.17 and a 12-month high of $24.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $9.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last issued its earnings results 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.16 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, major shareholder Margaret E. Haas sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.14, for a total transaction of $1,207,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder E. Haas Jr. Family Fund Peter sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total transaction of $3,628,500.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 201,150 shares of company stock valued at $4,860,018. 1.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Levi Strauss & Co.

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. XTX Topco Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 32,839 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 35.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,109 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 140.7% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,425 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 101.5% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,210 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 16,297 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

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.