Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp Acquires 3,204 Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 6.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 54,765 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,204 shares during the period. Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $1,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,555,997 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $171,034,000 after buying an additional 164,612 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 17.8% during the 4th 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,432,143 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $23,688,000 after purchasing an additional 242,882 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2,070.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,431,518 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $27,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,365,574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,245,542 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $20,601,000 after purchasing an additional 196,270 shares during the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 25,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $500,040.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 229,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,583,520. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.23, for a total value of $75,946.18. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 158,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,886,611.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David A. Friedman sold 25,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 229,176 shares in the company, valued at $4,583,520. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,500 shares of company stock valued at $736,461 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LEVI shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. TD Cowen upped their price objective 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. Bank of America increased their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.38.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:LEVI opened at $20.16 on Monday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52-week low of $12.41 and a 52-week high of $24.34. The stock has a market cap of $8.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.60, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $18.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.19.

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

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. This is a positive change from Levi Strauss & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.57%.

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.