Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 16.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 794,408 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after buying an additional 110,993 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.20% of Levi Strauss & Co. worth $17,318,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.8% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 42,745 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $824,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 3.7% in the third quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 21,690 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.0% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 85,129 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $1,702,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Waycross Investment Management Co boosted its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 2.6% in the second quarter. Waycross Investment Management Co now owns 38,195 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of LEVI stock opened at $17.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.76, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.18. Levi Strauss & Co. has a one year low of $14.70 and a one year high of $24.34. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $17.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

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

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is 136.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LEVI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Four research 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.com, Levi Strauss & Co. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.75.

Insider Activity

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 8,332 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $149,976.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 108,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,950,192. The trade was a 7.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Company Profile

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.