{"id":1441,"date":"2023-01-27T18:19:22","date_gmt":"2023-01-27T18:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tradersontrend.com\/?p=1441"},"modified":"2023-01-27T18:19:22","modified_gmt":"2023-01-27T18:19:22","slug":"levi-strauss-is-a-fitting-choice-for-income-chasers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tradersontrend.com\/h\/2023\/01\/27\/levi-strauss-is-a-fitting-choice-for-income-chasers\/","title":{"rendered":"Levi Strauss is a Fitting Choice for Income Chasers"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"1441\" class=\"elementor elementor-1441\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-7bb985e3 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"7bb985e3\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-20ba52e3\" data-id=\"20ba52e3\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2ebedf89 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2ebedf89\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.21.0 - 26-05-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p>Before the Q4 earnings report, Levi Strauss &amp; Co. (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/finance\/quote\/LEVI:NYSE\">NYSE: LEVI<\/a>) got downgraded among stock analysts, and price target reductions that, honestly, failed to account for the company&#8217;s brand power, market position, DTC channels, and the underlying consumer strength that continues to sustain inflation.<br \/><br \/><span style=\"font-family: inherit;\">The point is that only a few days later, the company reported a great fourth quarter and provided a favorable forecast, sending shares up more than 7% ahead of the opening bell. <br \/><br \/>The upshot is that analysts&#8217; opinions may be changing, and even if they don&#8217;t, this company is an appealing option for income-oriented investors, who don&#8217;t want to worry about what they&#8217;re buying or how safe the dividend is<\/span><\/p><p><br \/><strong><span style=\"font-size: 24.5px; font-family: inherit;\">Levi Strauss Outperforms in Terms of Profitability.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p><br \/>Levi Strauss experienced a mixed quarter, but it was mixed in a positive sense. <br \/><br \/>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2023\/01\/25\/levi-strauss-co-levi-q4-earnings-2022.html\">company reported<\/a> $1.59 billion in net revenue, a -6.5% decrease that was in line with the consensus estimates, and was accompanied by margin strength. <br \/><br \/>The margins shrank year on year, but less than predicted, and the relative strength is expected to continue beyond 2023. The top-line results were driven by a shift in the mix, with falling wholesales and rising DTC sales.<\/p><p>The essential conclusion is that revenue remained level on a forex-neutral basis and only became negative when off-shore funds were brought back home. <br \/><br \/>Within DTC, digital channel sales are dropping post-COVID as shoppers return to shops, but they are still solid and up vs the same period in 2019.<\/p><p>Moving on to the margins, both the gross and operating margins contracted, with the adjusted gross margin falling 300 basis points and the adjusted EBIT margin falling 300. <br \/><br \/>The lesson is that margin pressure was less feared, resulting in earnings that were down year on year but comfortably ahead of the consensus projections.<\/p><p>Share repurchases helped the adjusted $0.34 surpass the average by $0.04 or 1330 basis points. <br \/><br \/>The company repurchased another 2.2 million shares in the fourth quarter, bringing the total for the year to 8.7 million, or a 2.2% decrease in YOY share count.<\/p><p>The guidance was also mixed. Revenue growth is predicted in 2023, but margins are expected to be substantially lower for Levi. <br \/><br \/>The company anticipates revenue growth of 1.5% to 3.0%, with adjusted EPS in the $1.30 to $1.40 range, compared to the $1.45 estimate. The EPS forecast is lower than the consensus figure. <br \/><br \/>Still, analysts have been slow to change their long-term objectives, and the market (if not the analysts) was expecting far worse.<br \/><br \/><strong><span style=\"font-size: 24.5px; font-family: inherit;\">Regardless of the Downgrades, Levi&#8217;s Is a Buy.<br \/><br \/><\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: inherit;\">Regardless of the pre-release downgrades, Levi&#8217;s stock is rated a Moderate Buy. <br \/><br \/>The consensus price goal remains 20% higher than the current action, and both mood and the price target might easily firm now that the results are in. <br \/><br \/>In this light, <\/span><a style=\"font-family: inherit;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Levi_Strauss_%26_Co.\">Levi Strauss &amp; Co.<\/a><span style=\"font-family: inherit;\">\u00a0may benefit from a tailwind from analysts, propelling stock toward the $20 mark.<\/span><\/p><p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.investopedia.com\/terms\/d\/dividend.asp\">dividend<\/a> may also be beneficial. At the low end of 2023 forecast, this stock pays 2.9% with a 37% payout ratio. <br \/><br \/>The balance sheet is also quite healthy, with debt decreasing and remaining low at 1.1X equity, cash reserves increasing, and inventories increasing.<\/p><p>The charts suggest some resistance above $17, which may limit advances in the short term. Price movement may trend sideways at or near present levels in this scenario until something changes in the market, such as a shift in analyst sentiment or an increase in institutional activity. <br \/><br \/>In any case, this is a fantastic firm, a good stock, a decent deal at 12X earnings, and a nice dividend payer.<\/p><p><em>For More Stocks And Investment Related News, Click\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/tradersontrend.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/tradersontrend.com\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1674902800428000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2xT4RaM5QNPlFVEUcxz2ow\">Here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before the Q4 earnings report, Levi Strauss &amp; Co. (NYSE: LEVI) got downgraded among stock analysts, and price target reductions that, honestly, failed to account for the company&#8217;s brand power, market position, DTC channels, and the underlying consumer strength that continues to sustain inflation. The point is that only a few days later, the company&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[147,189,363,364],"class_list":["post-1441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsletter","tag-covid","tag-dividend","tag-levi","tag-levi-strauss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tradersontrend.com\/h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tradersontrend.com\/h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tradersontrend.com\/h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tradersontrend.com\/h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tradersontrend.com\/h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tradersontrend.com\/h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tradersontrend.com\/h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tradersontrend.com\/h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tradersontrend.com\/h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tradersontrend.com\/h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}