Barclays Raises Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Price Target to $26.00

Key Points

• Barclays has increased its price target for Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $26.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.95% from the company's previous close, and has given it an "overweight" rating.
• Several analysts have provided positive ratings for Levi Strauss & Co., with Needham & Company and UBS Group both setting target prices of $28.00, suggesting strong future growth potential.
• The company's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $0.22, exceeding estimates, along with a revenue of $1.45 billion, reflecting a 6.4% increase year-over-year.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by investment analysts at Barclays from $24.00 to $26.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the blue-jean maker's stock. Barclays's price target points to a potential upside of 13.95% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Thursday. They set a "buy" rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. UBS Group raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $24.00.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE LEVI opened at $22.82 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $12.17 and a 12-month high of $23.60. The firm has a market cap of $9.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.25.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.37 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 28.75% and a net margin of 6.40%.Levi Strauss & Co.'s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.16 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Levi Strauss & Co.

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 2.1% in the first quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 32,839 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 35.4% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,109 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 140.7% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,425 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 101.5% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,210 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 7.5% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 16,297 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 1,133 shares during the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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