Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Downgraded to “Buy” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on LEVI. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.43.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LEVI opened at $20.18 on Friday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a twelve month low of $17.72 and a twelve month high of $25.70. The firm has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.60. The business has a fifty day moving average of $22.96 and a 200-day moving average of $22.14.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 8th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.04. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 25.79%. The business had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Levi Strauss & Co. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.460-1.520 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. This is an increase from Levi Strauss & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 22nd. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.51%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Harmit Singh sold 98,144 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.22, for a total transaction of $2,377,047.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,391,652.34. The trade was a 49.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 0.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,644,561 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $40,834,000 after purchasing an additional 7,827 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 74.3% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 811,600 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $20,152,000 after purchasing an additional 345,855 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the second quarter worth $127,000. Nykredit A S bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the second quarter worth $36,000. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the second quarter worth $900,000. Institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

Levi Strauss & Co is a global apparel company best known for its Levi’s brand of denim jeans and related clothing. Its product portfolio includes jeans, tops, jackets, footwear, accessories and other casualwear, sold through company-operated stores, digital channels, wholesale partners and distributors.

Founded in 1853 by Levi Strauss, the company is headquartered in San Francisco, California. In addition to Levi’s, its brand portfolio includes Dockers, Beyond Yoga, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co and Denizen.