Levi Strauss & Co. operates as an apparel company. The company designs, markets, and sells jeans, casual and dress pants, activewear, tops, shorts, skirts, dresses, jackets, footwear, and related accessories for men, women, and children in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. It also sells its products under the Levi's, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co., and Denizen brands. In addition, the company licenses Levi's and Dockers trademarks for various product categories, including footwear, belts, wallets and bags, outerwear, sweaters, dress shirts, kids wear, sleepwear, and hosiery. Further, it sells its products through third-party retailers, such as department stores, specialty retailers, third-party e-commerce sites, and franchisees who operate brand-dedicated stores; and directly to consumers through various formats, including company-operated mainline and outlet stores, company-operated e-commerce sites, and select shop-in-shops located in department stores, and other third-party retail locations. The company also operates approximately 3,100 brand-dedicated stores and shop-in-shops. The company was founded in 1853 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several analysts have weighed in on LEVI shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $31.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Friday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley cut Levi Strauss & Co. from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $19.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, August 4th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $23.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $27.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.18.
Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Up 0.1 %
Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $19.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.75 billion, a PE ratio of 13.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.53. Levi Strauss & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $15.61 and a fifty-two week high of $28.62. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $17.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.09.
Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.06. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 9.48% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. The company's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 1st will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. This is an increase from Levi Strauss & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 29th. Levi Strauss & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, EVP Seth Jaffe sold 12,782 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.75, for a total transaction of $239,662.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 148,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,780,606.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.69% of the company's stock.