Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Shares Purchased by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,246,944 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,071 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.31% of Levi Strauss & Co. worth $27,183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Algert Global LLC raised its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 282.1% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 150,793 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $3,287,000 after purchasing an additional 111,330 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 16.2% in 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 buying an additional 110,993 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,328,000. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $313,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 113,550 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $2,475,000 after acquiring an additional 2,117 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LEVI shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.75.

Insider Transactions at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 25,002 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $500,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 229,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,583,520. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of LEVI stock opened at $17.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $14.70 and a 12-month high of $24.34. The business’s 50 day moving average is $18.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.53. The company has a market capitalization of $6.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.18.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 2nd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 2.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 136.85%.

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.