Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 448,785 Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 31.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 977,920 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after selling 448,785 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.25% of Levi Strauss & Co. worth $15,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 560.0% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,883,995 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $32,593,000 after acquiring an additional 1,598,523 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1,079.9% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,432,127 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $24,776,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310,748 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 164.4% in the 4th quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 1,312,150 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $22,700,000 after acquiring an additional 815,950 shares in the last quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC bought a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $11,869,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 53.7% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,916,568 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $33,157,000 after acquiring an additional 669,624 shares in the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE LEVI opened at $20.91 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $18.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.28. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $12.17 and a 12-month high of $22.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $8.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.15.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 28.75%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.16 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 24th will be given a $0.14 dividend. This is a boost from Levi Strauss & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 24th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 50.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on LEVI. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $25.00 price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.45.

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.