Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Stock Price

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) had its price objective trimmed by Stifel Nicolaus from $25.00 to $20.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the blue-jean maker’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on LEVI. Guggenheim raised their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lowered their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.45.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Down 7.3 %

Shares of LEVI opened at $12.52 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1-year low of $12.33 and a 1-year high of $24.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $16.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.55.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 25.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.16%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.43%.

Insider Activity at Levi Strauss & Co.

In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total value of $76,821.04. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 100,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,844,221.28. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,998 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $16,383,000 after purchasing an additional 152,590 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $832,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $511,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,415,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,608,253 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $27,823,000 after acquiring an additional 219,546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

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.