SG Americas Securities LLC Reduces Holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

SG Americas Securities LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 45.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,105 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after selling 7,442 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. in the second quarter valued at approximately $8,552,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 42,745 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $56,000. Susquehanna International Securities Ltd. purchased a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $239,000. Finally, Scientech Research LLC purchased a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $361,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.15, for a total transaction of $79,778.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 154,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,952,508.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.15, for a total transaction of $79,778.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 154,178 shares in the company, valued at $2,952,508.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David A. Friedman sold 25,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,583,520. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,334 shares of company stock valued at $655,765. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on LEVI. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.75.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of LEVI opened at $18.31 on Wednesday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52-week low of $13.22 and a 52-week high of $24.34. The company has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a PE ratio of 52.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 2nd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 29th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio 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.