Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.13

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a dividend of 0.13 per share by the blue-jean maker on Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th.

Levi Strauss & Co. has raised its dividend payment by an average of 24.4% annually over the last three years. Levi Strauss & Co. has a dividend payout ratio of 33.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Levi Strauss & Co. to earn $1.38 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.7%.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

LEVI traded up $0.92 during trading on Thursday, hitting $19.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,064,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,916,779. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.16. Levi Strauss & Co. has a twelve month low of $15.62 and a twelve month high of $24.34. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 2.52% and a return on equity of 24.43%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $74,988.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 104,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,875,204. This represents a 3.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on LEVI shares. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Levi Strauss & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.36.

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.