Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Stock Price

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) had its price target lowered by Barclays from $22.00 to $18.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the blue-jean maker’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup cut their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group cut their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.45.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of LEVI stock opened at $12.52 on Tuesday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52-week low of $12.33 and a 52-week high of $24.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.55.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last announced 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 company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 25.88% and a net margin of 3.32%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.43%.

Insider Activity at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total transaction of $76,821.04. Following the transaction, the director now owns 100,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,844,221.28. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LEVI. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 274.5% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 33,657 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $734,000 after purchasing an additional 24,669 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 73.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 149,947 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $3,269,000 after buying an additional 63,718 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $832,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,123,957 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $24,512,000 after buying an additional 20,870 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 11.2% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 166,736 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $3,635,000 after acquiring an additional 16,785 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

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.