Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Takes $325,000 Position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 20,868 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Matrix Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 58.7% during the 1st quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 8,738 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 3,231 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $991,000. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 511.8% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 127,046 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $2,198,000 after buying an additional 106,281 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 402.2% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 349,500 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $6,046,000 after acquiring an additional 279,900 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 172,801 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $2,989,000 after acquiring an additional 6,065 shares during the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on LEVI shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $19.00 target price (up previously from $14.00) on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $20.45.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

Shares of LEVI traded up $0.16 on Wednesday, reaching $17.60. The stock had a trading volume of 1,589,901 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,207,594. Levi Strauss & Co. has a twelve month low of $12.17 and a twelve month high of $23.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.97 billion, a PE ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $16.63 and a 200 day moving average of $16.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 28.11% and a net margin of 5.63%. The business's revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

Levi Strauss & Co. Company 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.