KBC Group NV Has $2.48 Million Holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,550 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,117 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $2,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LEVI. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the third quarter worth $27,000. 272 Capital LP bought a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth about $56,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $135,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $195,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on LEVI. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.75.

Insider Transactions at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 25,002 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $500,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 229,176 shares in the company, valued at $4,583,520. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

Shares of LEVI opened at $16.18 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $18.80 and its 200-day moving average is $19.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.42 billion, a PE ratio of 42.58, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.18. Levi Strauss & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $14.70 and a fifty-two week high of $24.34.

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

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is 136.84%.

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.