Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $14.56 and last traded at $14.57, with a volume of 1053813 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LEVI. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.27.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Down 13.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $17.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.77.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 25.88%. On average, research analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

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 on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $74,988.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 104,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,875,204. This represents a 3.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Levi Strauss & Co.

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LEVI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 19.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 152,590 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the third quarter worth approximately $832,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $511,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $1,415,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,608,253 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $27,823,000 after acquiring an additional 219,546 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

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.