Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Stock

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) had its target price increased by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $20.00 to $22.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the blue-jean maker’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target points to a potential upside of 25.21% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on LEVI. Bank of America upgraded Levi Strauss & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays cut their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group dropped their price target on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Levi Strauss & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.82.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:LEVI opened at $17.57 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.42. Levi Strauss & Co. has a one year low of $12.17 and a one year high of $24.34. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.88. The stock has a market cap of $6.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. Levi Strauss & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Levi Strauss & Co.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,998 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $16,383,000 after buying an additional 152,590 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $7,180,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $511,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $1,415,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,608,253 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $27,823,000 after purchasing an additional 219,546 shares in the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

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.