EFG Asset Management North America Corp. Grows Stake in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. lifted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 108,854 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after buying an additional 14,006 shares during the period. EFG Asset Management North America Corp.’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $1,882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 794,408 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $17,318,000 after acquiring an additional 110,993 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 282.1% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 150,793 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $3,287,000 after purchasing an additional 111,330 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 44.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,420,007 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $205,356,000 after purchasing an additional 2,907,099 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 274.5% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 33,657 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $734,000 after purchasing an additional 24,669 shares during the period. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 3rd quarter valued at $261,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on LEVI shares. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.27.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

Shares of LEVI opened at $16.09 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $6.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.94, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52 week low of $15.45 and a 52 week high of $24.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $17.52 and a 200-day moving average of $17.90.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 25.88%. As a group, analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $74,988.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 104,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,875,204. This represents a 3.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

Levi Strauss & Co engages in the design, marketing, and sale of apparel products. The company offers jeans, casual and dress pants, tops, shorts, skirts, jackets, footwear, and related accessories. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, and Asia. The company was founded by Levi Strauss in 1853 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.