Duality Advisers LP Boosts Stock Position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Duality Advisers LP increased its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 51.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,144 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,593 shares during the quarter. Duality Advisers LP’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 9,541 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 1,690 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the third quarter worth $195,000. Everett Harris & Co. CA acquired a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the third quarter valued at $204,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the 4th quarter worth about $215,000. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. grew its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 4.9% in the third quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 17,000 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other news, major shareholder Margaret E. Haas sold 9,462 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.01, for a total value of $170,410.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Margaret E. Haas sold 9,462 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.01, for a total value of $170,410.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bradley J. Haas sold 85,985 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.06, for a total transaction of $1,896,829.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,712 shares of company stock valued at $5,171,845 over the last 90 days. 3.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $21.10 on Friday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1-year low of $12.41 and a 1-year high of $22.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.76.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 3rd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 2.05% and a return on equity of 20.68%. The company had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. Levi Strauss & Co.’s quarterly revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 9th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 8th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 154.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on LEVI. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. TheStreet raised Levi Strauss & Co. from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.56.

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.