Stifel Financial Corp Increases Stake in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 159,250 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,303 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $2,755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,824,983 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $152,672,000 after buying an additional 133,978 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,673,056 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $115,444,000 after acquiring an additional 81,435 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,608,253 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $27,823,000 after purchasing an additional 219,546 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 119.8% in the 4th 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. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,310,748 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:LEVI opened at $16.21 on Friday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $12.17 and a 12-month high of $24.34. 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 firm has a market cap of $6.42 billion, a PE ratio of 31.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.93.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 25.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is 58.43%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total transaction of $76,821.04. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on LEVI. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America upgraded Levi Strauss & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $17.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.45.

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.