Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Short Interest Down 24.9% in October

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,030,000 shares, a decline of 24.9% from the October 15th total of 6,700,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on LEVI shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.75.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Down 1.0 %

LEVI traded down $0.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $16.59. The company had a trading volume of 478,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,235,403. The stock has a market cap of $6.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.11, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.92. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52 week low of $14.70 and a 52 week high of $24.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 2nd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 2.52%. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 136.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 25,002 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 229,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,583,520. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Levi Strauss & Co.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LEVI. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 44.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,420,007 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $205,356,000 after buying an additional 2,907,099 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 2,083.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,923,206 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $37,079,000 after buying an additional 1,835,107 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2,070.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,431,518 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $27,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,365,574 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 6,794.9% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,244,873 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $24,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226,818 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,274,326 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $82,409,000 after purchasing an additional 756,926 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

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.