Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $15.25 Million Holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) by 31.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 977,920 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock after selling 448,785 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.25% of Levi Strauss & Co. worth $15,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Xcel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,710,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 87.6% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 53,967 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 25,197 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH lifted its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 8.6% during the first quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 92,372 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 7,303 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.5% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 116,131 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $1,810,000 after buying an additional 1,689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 6.3% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,639,565 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $26,856,000 after purchasing an additional 97,781 shares during the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE LEVI traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $21.08. 3,530,147 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,246,684. The company has a 50 day moving average of $18.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12 month low of $12.17 and a 12 month high of $22.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.15.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.09. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 28.75%. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This is an increase from Levi Strauss & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 24th. Levi Strauss & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LEVI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $25.00 price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.45.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

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.