Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $15.57 and last traded at $15.64, with a volume of 516678 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $16.36.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lowered their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered 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, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Levi Strauss & Co. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.27.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Up 3.3 %

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $17.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 25.88% and a net margin of 3.32%. On average, equities analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 104,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,875,204. This represents a 3.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Levi Strauss & Co.

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LEVI. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 44.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,420,007 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $205,356,000 after acquiring an additional 2,907,099 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 560.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,883,995 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $32,593,000 after purchasing an additional 1,598,523 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1,079.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,432,127 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $24,776,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310,748 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 119.8% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,541,784 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $26,858,000 after purchasing an additional 840,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 164.4% in the fourth quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 1,312,150 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $22,700,000 after purchasing an additional 815,950 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

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.