David A. Friedman Sells 4,166 Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Stock

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.15, for a total value of $79,778.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 154,178 shares in the company, valued at $2,952,508.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:LEVI opened at $18.83 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $18.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.06. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $12.41 and a 12-month high of $24.34. The company has a market capitalization of $7.48 billion, a PE ratio of 53.80, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 23.21%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.04 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. This is a boost from Levi Strauss & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 148.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LEVI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LEVI. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,391,385 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $138,794,000 after purchasing an additional 97,043 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,245,542 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $20,601,000 after purchasing an additional 196,270 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 230.0% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 56,934 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $1,138,000 after acquiring an additional 39,683 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $1,361,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 158.3% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 155,000 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $2,564,000 after acquiring an additional 95,000 shares during the period. 69.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

Levi Strauss & Co designs, markets, and sells apparels and related accessories for men, women, and children worldwide. The company offers jeans, casual and dress pants, activewears, tops, shorts, skirts, dresses, jumpsuits, shirts, sweaters, jackets, footwear, and related accessories under the Levi's, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co, Denizen, and Beyond Yoga brands.