Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $24.54, but opened at $22.29. Levi Strauss & Co. shares last traded at $22.05, with a volume of 3,412,612 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.36.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $22.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.53 billion, a PE ratio of 14.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 9th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 28.37% and a net margin of 9.48%.Levi Strauss & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. Levi Strauss & Co. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.270-1.320 EPS. Research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Tuesday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 20th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, major shareholder E. Haas Jr. Family Fund Peter sold 150,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total transaction of $3,628,500.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Margaret E. Haas sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.14, for a total value of $1,207,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 201,150 shares of company stock worth $4,860,018 over the last 90 days. 1.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LEVI. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at $325,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 143.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 29,479 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $460,000 after acquiring an additional 17,376 shares during the period. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC now owns 53,036 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $827,000 after acquiring an additional 2,240 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 101.5% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,210 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 35.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,109 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the period. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.