Seven Eight Capital LP Invests $1.47 Million in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 80,796 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,473,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,816,229 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $33,110,000 after purchasing an additional 97,230 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC lifted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 520.5% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 255,490 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $4,658,000 after acquiring an additional 214,312 shares during the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,110,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 615,228 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $11,214,000 after acquiring an additional 14,791 shares during the last quarter. 19.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Up 1.8 %

LEVI stock opened at $14.05 on Friday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $12.80 and a fifty-two week high of $19.35. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $14.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.20.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 6th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.01. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 23.46% and a net margin of 7.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Investors of record on Friday, August 4th were paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 3rd. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 43.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LEVI shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $15.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $16.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.90.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

Levi Strauss & Co engages in the design, marketing, and sale of apparels and related accessories for men, women, and children in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. It offers jeans, casual and dress pants, activewear, tops, shorts, skirts, dresses, jumpsuits, shirts, sweaters, jackets, footwear, and related products under the Levi's, Dockers, Beyond Yoga, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co, and Denizen brands.