12,514 Shares in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Bought by EP Wealth Advisors LLC

EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 12,514 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,103 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 2,998 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 114,442 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $1,980,000 after acquiring an additional 892 shares in the last quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 93.8% during the fourth quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 42,025 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $727,000 after acquiring an additional 20,335 shares in the last quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 57,147 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $989,000 after acquiring an additional 7,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at $105,000. 69.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Down 1.9%

LEVI stock opened at $17.46 on Thursday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $12.17 and a fifty-two week high of $24.34. The business’s 50-day moving average is $15.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 24th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 58.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LEVI shares. Bank of America upgraded Levi Strauss & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $17.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Levi Strauss & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.64.

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.