Barclays Lowers Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Price Target to $22.00

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) had its price objective cut by Barclays from $24.00 to $22.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the blue-jean maker’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on LEVI. TD Cowen reduced 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.36.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

LEVI opened at $19.01 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $17.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.16. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $15.62 and a 12-month high of $24.34.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 26.00%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $74,988.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 104,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,875,204. The trade was a 3.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Levi Strauss & Co.

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valmark Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $115,000. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $879,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 119.8% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,541,784 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $26,858,000 after purchasing an additional 840,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 113.8% in the 4th quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 34,200 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $592,000 after purchasing an additional 18,200 shares in the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.