Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 258,610 Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 31.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 570,384 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after selling 258,610 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $9,434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,325,000. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2,096.4% during the 3rd quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 1,252,500 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $17,009,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195,475 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 610,838 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,105,000. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 121.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 493,505 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $6,702,000 after acquiring an additional 270,870 shares during the period. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LEVI opened at $22.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a PE ratio of 71.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $19.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.19. Levi Strauss & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $12.41 and a fifty-two week high of $22.39.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 3rd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 20.68% and a net margin of 2.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 154.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.56.

Insider Transactions at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 12,500 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.23, for a total value of $265,375.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 187,508 shares in the company, valued at $3,980,794.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.23, for a total value of $265,375.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 187,508 shares in the company, valued at $3,980,794.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Bradley J. Haas sold 85,985 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.06, for a total transaction of $1,896,829.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 267,212 shares of company stock valued at $5,437,220. Corporate insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

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.