Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Reaches New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Levi Strauss & Co. shares reached a new 52-week high after Bank of America raised its price target from $26.00 to $27.00, maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Several analysts upgraded their ratings and price targets for the stock, with an average target of $24.33 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• The company reported $1.45 billion in revenue and earnings per share of $0.22, exceeding analyst expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 6.4%.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $26.00 to $27.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Levi Strauss & Co. traded as high as $23.69 and last traded at $23.79, with a volume of 141554 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.30.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on LEVI. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays lifted their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $24.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Levi Strauss & Co.

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 87.6% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 53,967 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $841,000 after acquiring an additional 25,197 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the first quarter worth about $402,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 143.6% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 29,479 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 17,376 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the first quarter worth about $3,259,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 6.3% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,639,565 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $26,856,000 after purchasing an additional 97,781 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company's stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $9.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $21.56 and a 200 day moving average of $18.65.

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

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 24th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from Levi Strauss & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 24th. Levi Strauss & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.90%.

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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