Citigroup Increases Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Price Target to $19.00

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) had its price objective hoisted by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $14.00 to $19.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the blue-jean maker’s stock. Citigroup’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 6.09% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.45.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 3.4%

Shares of LEVI stock opened at $17.91 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.44, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1-year low of $12.17 and a 1-year high of $24.34. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.89.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.10. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 25.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter last 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, equities analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Levi Strauss & Co.

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,103 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 2,998 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 114,442 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $1,980,000 after buying an additional 892 shares in the last quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 93.8% during the fourth quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 42,025 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $727,000 after buying an additional 20,335 shares in the last quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 57,147 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $989,000 after buying an additional 7,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $105,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

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.