Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Director David A. Friedman Sells 25,002 Shares

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Director David A. Friedman sold 25,002 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $500,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 229,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,583,520. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $19.70 on Wednesday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1 year low of $12.41 and a 1 year high of $24.34. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.15. The company has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.29, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.45 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 23.21% and a net margin of 2.34%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.04 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This is a boost from Levi Strauss & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 148.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. OTR Global started coverage on Levi Strauss & Co. in a report on Friday, June 14th. They set a “positive” rating for the company. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Levi Strauss & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Levi Strauss & Co.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2,083.0% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,923,206 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $37,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835,107 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 2,070.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,431,518 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $27,600,000 after buying an additional 1,365,574 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 6,794.9% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,244,873 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $24,001,000 after buying an additional 1,226,818 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,625,378 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $109,584,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 21.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,274,326 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $82,409,000 after acquiring an additional 756,926 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% 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.