Levi Strauss & Co. $LEVI Shares Bought by Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd grew its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 131.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 77,256 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,936 shares during the quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $1,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEVI. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 123,970.4% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,163,649 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $58,496,000 after acquiring an additional 3,166,203 shares in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth $39,322,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 44.0% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,243,680 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $88,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296,474 shares in the last quarter. Oberweis Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth $21,052,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 83.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,958,271 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $36,208,000 after acquiring an additional 890,752 shares in the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, major shareholder Margaret E. Haas sold 47,721 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $1,145,781.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Harmit J. Singh sold 121,767 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.52, for a total transaction of $2,863,959.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 148,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,498,764.64. This trade represents a 45.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 1,468,570 shares of company stock valued at $34,136,152 over the last 90 days. 1.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on LEVI shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.79.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:LEVI opened at $24.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a PE ratio of 15.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.34. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $22.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.33. Levi Strauss & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $16.50 and a fifty-two week high of $24.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.05. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 9.52% and a return on equity of 25.35%. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Levi Strauss & Co.’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd were given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 22nd. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.67%.

Levi Strauss & Co. Profile

Levi Strauss & Co is a global apparel company best known for its denim jeans and casual wear. Founded in 1853 in San Francisco by Bavarian immigrant Levi Strauss, the company pioneered the modern blue jean with the introduction of rivet-reinforced work pants. Over its more than 160-year history, Levi Strauss has evolved into a lifestyle brand, offering a broad portfolio that includes denim for men, women and children, as well as tops, outerwear, footwear and accessories.

The company’s flagship label, Levi’s®, is recognized worldwide for its iconic styles such as the 501® Original Fit Jeans, while additional brands, including Dockers®, Target core metric, and Denizen® by Levi’s, cater to diverse price points and consumer segments.