LPL Financial LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,151 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,283 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 114,442 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $1,980,000 after purchasing an additional 892 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,103 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 2,998 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 678.9% in the 4th quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 5,507 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 54,892 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $950,000 after acquiring an additional 5,665 shares during the period. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total transaction of $76,821.04. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 100,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,844,221.28. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on LEVI. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of 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 cut their target price for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.18.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of LEVI stock opened at $14.62 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52-week low of $12.17 and a 52-week high of $24.34.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 25.88% and a net margin of 3.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 24th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 58.43%.

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.