Raymond James & Associates Sells 5,600 Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Raymond James & Associates cut its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 21.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,131 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after selling 5,600 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 21.5% in the third quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 9,541 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,690 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the third quarter worth about $195,000. Everett Harris & Co. CA bought a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the third quarter worth about $204,000. Duality Advisers LP bought a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the third quarter worth about $225,000. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on LEVI shares. Wells Fargo & Company 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 Thursday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.56.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:LEVI opened at $21.13 on Monday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1 year low of $12.41 and a 1 year high of $22.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.41 billion, a PE ratio of 68.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

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

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 9th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is 154.84%.

Insider Activity at Levi Strauss & Co.

In related news, major shareholder Bradley J. Haas sold 23,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total value of $461,050.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Tracy Layney sold 15,894 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.02, for a total transaction of $270,515.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,785.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bradley J. Haas sold 23,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total value of $461,050.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 254,712 shares of company stock worth $5,171,845. Company insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

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.