Hsbc Holdings PLC Invests $446,000 in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 25,579 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock, valued at approximately $446,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 159,250 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $2,755,000 after buying an additional 9,303 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1,141.4% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 21,030 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $364,000 after acquiring an additional 19,336 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $10,297,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,341,317 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $23,205,000 after acquiring an additional 137,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 164.4% in the fourth quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 1,312,150 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $22,700,000 after purchasing an additional 815,950 shares in the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $16.59 on Thursday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a twelve month low of $12.17 and a twelve month high of $24.34. The stock has a market cap of $6.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $15.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.90.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $17.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Levi Strauss & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.45.

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.