Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Major Shareholder Bradley J. Haas Sells 85,985 Shares of Stock

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) major shareholder Bradley J. Haas sold 85,985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.06, for a total value of $1,896,829.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Bradley J. Haas also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, April 4th, Bradley J. Haas sold 14,015 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.05, for a total transaction of $309,030.75.
• On Monday, April 1st, Bradley J. Haas sold 26,959 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.14, for a total transaction of $542,954.26.
• On Thursday, March 28th, Bradley J. Haas sold 23,041 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total transaction of $461,050.41.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Down 2.2 %

LEVI opened at $21.57 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.58, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $19.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.72. Levi Strauss & Co. has a twelve month low of $12.41 and a twelve month high of $22.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 3rd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 2.05% and a return on equity of 20.68%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 9th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is 154.84%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Levi Strauss & Co.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 7.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,626,322 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $117,145,000 after buying an additional 610,838 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $138,794,000 after acquiring an additional 97,043 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,625,378 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $109,584,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,000 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,913,865 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $80,310,000 after purchasing an additional 105,924 shares during the period. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at $24,325,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEVI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. TheStreet raised shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Levi Strauss & Co. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.56.

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.