Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Given Buy Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $28.00 price target on the blue-jean maker’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 48.85% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.23.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

Shares of LEVI traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $18.81. 6,882,649 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,743,512. The company has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $21.30 and its 200 day moving average is $22.14. Levi Strauss & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $17.72 and a fifty-two week high of $25.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.12. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 25.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Levi Strauss & Co. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.540-1.560 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, EVP Harmit Singh sold 98,144 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,391,652.34. The trade was a 49.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Levi Strauss & Co.

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 392,152 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $9,737,000 after purchasing an additional 29,501 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 7.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 983,097 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $24,410,000 after purchasing an additional 69,437 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 0.5% in 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 last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 74.3% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 811,600 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $20,152,000 after purchasing an additional 345,855 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. in the second quarter worth $127,000. Institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Levi Strauss & Co. this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter adjusted EPS was $0.48, well above the roughly $0.35–$0.36 analyst consensus, with earnings benefiting from wider margins, wholesale strength and international growth. Levi Strauss beats third-quarter profit estimates as margins widen
• Positive Sentiment: Levi raised fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $1.54–$1.56 from $1.46–$1.52, helped partly by approximately $80 million in tariff refunds. The company expects about 4% organic revenue growth in the fourth quarter. Levi Strauss hikes profit guidance after tariff refunds
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains, with Needham reaffirming a Buy rating and a $28 target. Levi also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share, equivalent to a $0.64 annualized payout.
• Neutral Sentiment: Options activity was unusually high, with call purchases running well above average, suggesting increased speculative interest but not necessarily a change in fundamentals.
• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays maintained an Overweight rating but reduced its price target to $26, while Wells Fargo lowered its target to $20 and assigned an Equal Weight rating, reflecting differing views on the company’s outlook.
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue of $1.61 billion missed the $1.62 billion consensus estimate. Direct-to-consumer sales growth was only about 2% and U.S. demand remained pressured, overshadowing the EPS beat. Levi Strauss Stock Falls on Mixed Financial Results
• Negative Sentiment: Management trimmed its sales-growth outlook to the lower end of its prior range and set fiscal 2026 revenue guidance at approximately $6.7 billion versus a $6.8 billion consensus. Investors also viewed the tariff refund benefit as partly one-time, increasing focus on whether Levi can generate sustainable cost relief and revive DTC momentum.

Levi Strauss & Co. Company Profile

Levi Strauss & Co is an apparel company best known for its Levi’s brand of denim jeans and related clothing. Its product portfolio includes jeans, tops, bottoms, jackets, footwear, accessories and other casualwear for men, women and children.

Founded in 1853 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, the company also owns the Dockers, Beyond Yoga and Signature by Levi Strauss & Co brands. Levi Strauss & Co sells its products through company-operated stores, e-commerce platforms, wholesale partners and other distribution channels.

The company serves customers in North America, Europe, Asia and other international markets.