Handelsbanken Fonder AB Invests $433,000 in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB bought a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 26,200 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock, valued at approximately $433,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 43.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 19,978 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 6,018 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,327,756 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $18,031,000 after buying an additional 267,760 shares during the period. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 17,000 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth about $225,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 686,602 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $9,324,000 after buying an additional 97,809 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on LEVI. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note 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 raised their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.56.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $21.15 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.01. 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. has a 52-week low of $12.41 and a 52-week high of $22.39. The company has a market cap of $8.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.23, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 3rd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Levi Strauss & Co.

In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 35,415 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $708,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 179,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,588,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Tracy Layney sold 15,894 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.02, for a total value of $270,515.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,785.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David A. Friedman sold 35,415 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $708,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 179,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,588,600. 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 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

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.