Bank of Montreal Can Buys 24,466 Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 148.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,960 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,466 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 892.3% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 114,472 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $1,980,000 after purchasing an additional 102,936 shares in the last quarter. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. now owns 188,714 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $3,265,000 after buying an additional 67,401 shares in the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 26,888 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 5,851 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP grew its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 47.3% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 746,017 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $12,906,000 after buying an additional 239,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diametric Capital LP acquired a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $218,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total transaction of $76,821.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 100,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,844,221.28. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.25% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:LEVI opened at $14.62 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $16.15 and its 200-day moving average is $17.15. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1-year low of $12.17 and a 1-year high of $24.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 25.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LEVI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.18.

Levi Strauss & Co. Profile

Levi Strauss & Co engages in the design, marketing, and sale of apparel products. The company offers jeans, casual and dress pants, tops, shorts, skirts, jackets, footwear, and related accessories. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, and Asia. The company was founded by Levi Strauss in 1853 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.