Levi Strauss & Co. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.13 (NYSE:LEVI)

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a dividend of 0.13 per share by the blue-jean maker on Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th.

Levi Strauss & Co. has raised its dividend by an average of 24.4% annually over the last three years. Levi Strauss & Co. has a payout ratio of 33.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Levi Strauss & Co. to earn $1.38 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.7%.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

Levi Strauss & Co. stock traded up $0.92 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $19.01. 5,064,404 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,916,779. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $15.62 and a 12-month high of $24.34. The business’s 50-day moving average is $17.46 and its 200-day moving average is $18.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.54 billion, a PE ratio of 50.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.16.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 2.52% and a return on equity of 24.43%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on LEVI. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Levi Strauss & Co.

In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $74,988.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 104,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,875,204. This represents a 3.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 3.14% 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.