SG Americas Securities LLC Decreases Position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

SG Americas Securities LLC decreased its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 45.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,105 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after selling 7,442 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.8% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 42,745 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $824,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.0% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 85,129 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $1,702,000 after buying an additional 851 shares during the period. Waycross Investment Management Co increased its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 2.6% during the second quarter. Waycross Investment Management Co now owns 38,195 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $736,000 after buying an additional 955 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 11.6% during the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,441 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 1,715 shares during the period. Finally, 272 Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Down 1.8 %

Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $18.31 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1-year low of $13.22 and a 1-year high of $24.34. The company has a market cap of $7.28 billion, a PE ratio of 52.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $19.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.32.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 2nd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 2.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is 148.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 25,002 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $500,040.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 229,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,583,520. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.15, for a total value of $79,778.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 154,178 shares in the company, valued at $2,952,508.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David A. Friedman sold 25,002 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $500,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 229,176 shares in the company, valued at $4,583,520. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 33,334 shares of company stock worth $655,765. 3.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LEVI. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.75.

Levi Strauss & Co. Profile

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.