Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Levi Strauss & Co. to “strong-buy” from “buy.” Overall, analysts rate the stock “Moderate Buy,” with 12 buy ratings, three holds, and an average price target of $27.43.
• Levi Strauss reported quarterly earnings of $0.28 per share, exceeding estimates by $0.04, while revenue rose 8% year over year to $1.56 billion.
• Shares opened at $19.82, near the lower end of their 52-week range. Executive Vice President Harmit Singh sold 98,144 shares for approximately $2.38 million under a pre-arranged trading plan.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report released on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on LEVI. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.43.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Down 0.2%

LEVI stock opened at $19.82 on Friday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1-year low of $17.72 and a 1-year high of $25.70. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $22.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a PE ratio of 12.23, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.32.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 8th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.04. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 25.79% and a net margin of 9.66%.The company had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Levi Strauss & Co. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.460-1.520 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Levi Strauss & Co.

In related news, EVP Harmit Singh sold 98,144 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.22, for a total value of $2,377,047.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,747 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,391,652.34. The trade was a 49.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 1.08% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Levi Strauss & Co.

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LEVI. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 462.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,839,861 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $89,489,000 after acquiring an additional 3,979,223 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $60,854,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $24,799,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,243,680 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $88,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 2,219,599 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $46,034,000 after purchasing an additional 531,963 shares during the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Levi Strauss & Co. Company Profile

Levi Strauss & Co is a global apparel company best known for its Levi's brand of denim jeans and related clothing. Its product portfolio includes jeans, tops, jackets, footwear, accessories and other casualwear, sold through company-operated stores, digital channels, wholesale partners and distributors.

Founded in 1853 by Levi Strauss, the company is headquartered in San Francisco, California. In addition to Levi's, its brand portfolio includes Dockers, Beyond Yoga, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co and Denizen.

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