Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.45.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on LEVI shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised Levi Strauss & Co. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, April 10th.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Down 2.3%

Levi Strauss & Co. stock traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $16.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,357,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,204,979. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.12, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.15. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $16.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.98. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52-week low of $12.17 and a 52-week high of $23.92.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 25.88%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 24th. Levi Strauss & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at $511,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 119.8% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,541,784 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $26,858,000 after buying an additional 840,251 shares in the last quarter. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at $879,000. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $115,000. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.