Analysts Set Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Target Price at $20.45

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.45.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LEVI shares. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $19.00 price objective (up from $14.00) on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Levi Strauss & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEVI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,824,983 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $152,672,000 after buying an additional 133,978 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,673,056 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $115,444,000 after acquiring an additional 81,435 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 65.1% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,110,200 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $48,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226,205 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,189,815 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $34,139,000 after acquiring an additional 273,247 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 53.7% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,916,568 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $33,157,000 after purchasing an additional 669,624 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company's stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

NYSE:LEVI traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $17.05. The stock had a trading volume of 981,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,193,552. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $16.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.42. Levi Strauss & Co. has a one year low of $12.17 and a one year high of $24.14.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 25.88% and a net margin of 3.32%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 24th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. Levi Strauss & Co.'s payout ratio is 58.43%.

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.