Graham Capital Management L.P. Increases Holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Graham Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 16.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 271,011 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after buying an additional 37,542 shares during the quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. owned 0.07% of Levi Strauss & Co. worth $4,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Matrix Trust Co grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 678.9% during the fourth quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 5,507 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $105,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 67.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,090 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 2,454 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LEVI. Bank of America upgraded Levi Strauss & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.45.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $17.20 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.08, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.88. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52 week low of $12.17 and a 52 week high of $24.34.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 25.88% and a net margin of 3.32%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 24th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.43%.

Levi Strauss & Co. Company Profile

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.