Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Director David A. Friedman Sells 12,500 Shares

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Director David A. Friedman sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.23, for a total transaction of $265,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 187,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,980,794.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of LEVI traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $22.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,643,015 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,565,775. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52-week low of $12.41 and a 52-week high of $22.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $19.54 and its 200 day moving average is $17.04. The firm has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.19.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 3rd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 2.05% and a return on equity of 20.68%. The company had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.34 earnings per share. Levi Strauss & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 9th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 154.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.56.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LEVI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,294,342 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $112,637,000 after purchasing an additional 90,776 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the third quarter worth about $2,834,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 959.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 294,412 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $4,870,000 after purchasing an additional 266,612 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 7.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,626,322 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $117,145,000 after purchasing an additional 610,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 306.8% during the third quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 45,916 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 34,629 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Company Profile

Levi Strauss & Co designs, markets, and sells apparels and related accessories for men, women, and children worldwide. The company offers jeans, casual and dress pants, activewears, tops, shorts, skirts, dresses, jumpsuits, shirts, sweaters, jackets, footwear, and related accessories under the Levi's, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co, Denizen, and Beyond Yoga brands.