Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Shares Purchased by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 23.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 401,545 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 76,084 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.10% of Levi Strauss & Co. worth $6,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,998 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $16,383,000 after buying an additional 152,590 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at $511,000. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. now owns 188,714 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $3,265,000 after buying an additional 67,401 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at $1,415,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,608,253 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $27,823,000 after purchasing an additional 219,546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LEVI. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $17.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.82.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:LEVI opened at $17.58 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.42. Levi Strauss & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $12.17 and a fifty-two week high of $24.34. The company has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a PE ratio of 33.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.10. The business 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 firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 24th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.43%.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

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.