Fmr LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Fmr LLC grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 44.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,420,007 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,907,099 shares during the period. Fmr LLC owned about 2.37% of Levi Strauss & Co. worth $205,356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,274,326 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $82,409,000 after purchasing an additional 756,926 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2,083.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,923,206 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $37,079,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835,107 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2,070.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,431,518 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $27,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,365,574 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 6,794.9% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,244,873 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $24,001,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 16.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 794,408 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $17,318,000 after purchasing an additional 110,993 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 25,002 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 229,176 shares in the company, valued at $4,583,520. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $18.18 on Tuesday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $14.70 and a 12-month high of $24.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.21 billion, a PE ratio of 47.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $18.15 and its 200-day moving average is $19.42.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last issued 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 business had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. Levi Strauss & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 136.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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