Teacher Retirement System of Texas Raises Position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 87.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,967 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,197 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $841,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,998 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $16,383,000 after buying an additional 152,590 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $7,180,000. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 55.6% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 67,401 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 15.8% during the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 143.6% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 29,479 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 17,376 shares during the period. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on LEVI shares. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $24.00 price objective (up previously from $20.00) on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.18.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of LEVI stock opened at $21.36 on Tuesday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12 month low of $12.17 and a 12 month high of $22.35. The stock has a market cap of $8.46 billion, a PE ratio of 20.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $17.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.15.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.09. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 28.75%. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 24th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 24th. This is an increase from Levi Strauss & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.98%.

Levi Strauss & Co. Company 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.