Morgan Stanley Cuts Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Price Target to $16.00

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) had its price objective reduced by Morgan Stanley from $17.00 to $16.00 in a research report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the blue-jean maker’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.18.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LEVI opened at $15.03 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12 month low of $12.17 and a 12 month high of $24.34. The business’s 50 day moving average is $16.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 24th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 58.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Levi Strauss & Co.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,998 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $16,383,000 after acquiring an additional 152,590 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $832,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $511,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,415,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,608,253 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $27,823,000 after buying an additional 219,546 shares during the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.