Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Rating Increased to Buy at Bank of America

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $20.00 target price on the blue-jean maker’s stock, up from their prior target price of $17.00. Bank of America‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 33.42% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on LEVI. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.18.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

LEVI stock opened at $14.99 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $16.72 and a 200-day moving average of $17.49. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $12.17 and a 12-month high of $24.34.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.10. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 25.88% and a net margin of 3.32%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. Levi Strauss & Co.’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total value of $76,821.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 100,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,844,221.28. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Levi Strauss & Co.

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 274.5% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 33,657 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $734,000 after acquiring an additional 24,669 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 73.9% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 149,947 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $3,269,000 after purchasing an additional 63,718 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,123,957 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $24,512,000 after purchasing an additional 20,870 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 166,736 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $3,635,000 after buying an additional 16,785 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,230,069 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $26,816,000 after buying an additional 20,426 shares in the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.