KBC Group NV Grows Position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 116,131 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,689 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $1,810,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 101.5% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,210 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 35.4% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,109 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 67.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,090 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 2,454 shares during the period. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on 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. Bank of America upped their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Barclays upped their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.55.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of LEVI opened at $19.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.15. Levi Strauss & Co. has a one year low of $12.17 and a one year high of $21.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $17.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.04.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 28.11% and a net margin of 5.63%. The business’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is 58.43%.

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.