Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 60,907 Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 60,907 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Putnam Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 3,845,133 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $70,097,000 after purchasing an additional 516,642 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,217,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 67,921.3% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,420,619 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $98,818,000 after purchasing an additional 5,412,650 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the first quarter valued at $446,000. Finally, CORDA Investment Management LLC. lifted its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 3.7% during the first quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 652,484 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $11,895,000 after purchasing an additional 23,464 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LEVI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $16.00 to $14.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $15.00 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.90.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $13.77 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $14.14 and a 200 day moving average of $14.69. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.20. Levi Strauss & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $12.80 and a fifty-two week high of $19.35.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Investors of record on Friday, August 4th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 3rd. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 43.64%.

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.