American Century Companies Inc. Has $27.82 Million Stake in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,608,253 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 219,546 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $27,823,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,420,007 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $205,356,000 after acquiring an additional 2,907,099 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 59.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,555,382 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $33,907,000 after purchasing an additional 579,460 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 119.8% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,541,784 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $26,858,000 after purchasing an additional 840,251 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,230,069 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $26,816,000 after purchasing an additional 20,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,123,957 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $24,512,000 after purchasing an additional 20,870 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total value of $76,821.04. Following the transaction, the director now owns 100,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,844,221.28. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $15.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.84. Levi Strauss & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $15.44 and a fifty-two week high of $24.34. The firm has a market cap of $6.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 25.88% and a net margin of 3.32%. Sell-side analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim raised their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.27.

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.