ClariVest Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

ClariVest Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 62,398 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,203,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LEVI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 2.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,555,997 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $171,034,000 after purchasing an additional 164,612 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake 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 holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,432,143 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $23,688,000 after buying an additional 242,882 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,245,542 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $20,601,000 after buying an additional 196,270 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 548,183 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $9,067,000 after buying an additional 10,020 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 158,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,886,611.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,498 shares of company stock valued at $236,421. Company insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $19.29 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $18.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.11. The company has a market capitalization of $7.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1 year low of $12.41 and a 1 year high of $24.34.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This is a positive change from Levi Strauss & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 148.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on LEVI. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, OTR Global assumed coverage on Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Friday, June 14th. They issued a “positive” rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.38.

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.