International Assets Investment Management LLC Buys 266,612 Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 959.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 294,412 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 266,612 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $4,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,294,342 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $112,637,000 after acquiring an additional 90,776 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,834,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,626,322 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $117,145,000 after buying an additional 610,838 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 306.8% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 45,916 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 34,629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,913,865 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $80,310,000 after acquiring an additional 105,924 shares during the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on LEVI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, EVP Tracy Layney sold 15,894 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.02, for a total value of $270,515.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,468 shares in the company, valued at $705,785.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Margaret E. Haas sold 9,462 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.01, for a total value of $170,410.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Tracy Layney sold 15,894 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.02, for a total transaction of $270,515.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,785.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 168,727 shares of company stock worth $3,275,016. Insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of LEVI stock opened at $20.42 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $8.13 billion, a PE ratio of 65.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.22. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12 month low of $12.41 and a 12 month high of $22.39.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 3rd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 2.05% and a return on equity of 20.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is 154.84%.

Levi Strauss & Co. Profile

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.