Levi Strauss & Co. (LEVI) To Go Ex-Dividend on October 29th

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 2nd, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th will be given a dividend of 0.13 per share by the blue-jean maker on Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 29th.

Levi Strauss & Co. has raised its dividend by an average of 44.2% per year over the last three years. Levi Strauss & Co. has a dividend payout ratio of 36.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Levi Strauss & Co. to earn $1.43 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 36.4%.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Down 7.6 %

Shares of NYSE LEVI opened at $19.45 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.57, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.15 and its 200 day moving average is $20.33. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52 week low of $12.41 and a 52 week high of $24.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.42.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 2nd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 23.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.15, for a total transaction of $79,778.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 154,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,952,508.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.15, for a total value of $79,778.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 154,178 shares in the company, valued at $2,952,508.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David A. Friedman sold 25,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $500,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 229,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,583,520. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,334 shares of company stock valued at $655,765 over the last quarter. 3.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on LEVI. Bank of America upped their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. OTR Global assumed coverage on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a report on Friday, June 14th. They issued a “positive” rating for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.75.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

Levi Strauss & Co designs, markets, and sells apparels and related accessories for men, women, and children worldwide. The company offers jeans, casual and dress pants, activewears, tops, shorts, skirts, dresses, jumpsuits, shirts, sweaters, jackets, footwear, and related accessories under the Levi's, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co, Denizen, and Beyond Yoga brands.