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

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 29th,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 dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th.

Levi Strauss & Co. has raised its dividend payment by an average of 24.4% per year over the last three years. Levi Strauss & Co. has a payout ratio of 36.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Levi Strauss & Co. to earn $1.39 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 37.4%.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:LEVI opened at $18.43 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.17. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1 year low of $15.62 and a 1 year high of $24.34. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total transaction of $76,821.04. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 100,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,844,221.28. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 16,664 shares of company stock worth $301,785 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LEVI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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, January 30th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup cut their price target on 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. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 report on Friday, January 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.27.

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.