Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd Raises Position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 892.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 114,472 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 102,936 shares during the quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $1,980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LEVI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,824,983 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $152,672,000 after buying an additional 133,978 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,673,056 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $115,444,000 after acquiring an additional 81,435 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,608,253 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $27,823,000 after acquiring an additional 219,546 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 119.8% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,541,784 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $26,858,000 after acquiring an additional 840,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1,079.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,432,127 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $24,776,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310,748 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $13.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a PE ratio of 26.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07. Levi Strauss & Co. has a one year low of $13.51 and a one year high of $24.34. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $17.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.42.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its earnings results 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, sell-side analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEVI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group cut their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.27.

Insider Activity

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $74,988.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 104,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,875,204. This represents a 3.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.25% of the company’s stock.

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.