LPL Financial LLC Increases Position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 54,151 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after purchasing 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 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted 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 worth $16,383,000 after buying an additional 152,590 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $511,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $1,415,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 219,546 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,732,000. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Up 3.6 %

LEVI stock opened at $14.62 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.15. 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 quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 25.88% and a net margin of 3.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is presently 58.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LEVI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Levi Strauss & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.25% of the company’s stock.

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.