Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Makes New $27,000 Investment in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,235 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock, valued at approximately $27,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 230.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 56,934 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 39,683 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,555,997 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $171,034,000 after buying an additional 164,612 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 69.2% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 18,965 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 7,757 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 31.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,502 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 4,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 25,002 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $500,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 229,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,583,520. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 154,178 shares in the company, valued at $2,952,508.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David A. Friedman sold 25,002 shares of the 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 $4,583,520. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 0.2 %

Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $16.96 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $18.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.99. The company has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.18. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52 week low of $13.94 and a 52 week high of $24.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 2.52% and a return on equity of 24.43%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors 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 3.07%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 136.85%.

Levi Strauss & Co. Company 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.