BNP Paribas Financial Markets Boosts Stock Holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) by 314.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 139,466 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock after purchasing an additional 105,809 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $2,413,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,103 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 114,442 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $1,980,000 after purchasing an additional 892 shares in the last quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 93.8% in the fourth quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 42,025 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $727,000 after buying an additional 20,335 shares during the period. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 57,147 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $989,000 after buying an additional 7,633 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $105,000. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on LEVI shares. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised Levi Strauss & Co. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $17.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.45.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE LEVI traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $17.65. 216,476 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,153,626. The stock has a market cap of $6.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.97, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.89. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1-year low of $12.17 and a 1-year high of $24.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.54 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 25.88%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Levi Strauss & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.43%.

Levi Strauss & Co. Profile

Levi Strauss & Co engages in the design, marketing, and sale of apparel products. The company offers jeans, casual and dress pants, tops, shorts, skirts, jackets, footwear, and related accessories. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, and Asia. The company was founded by Levi Strauss in 1853 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.