Invesco Ltd. Acquires Shares of 105,292 Levi Strauss & Co. $LEVI

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. has acquired 105,292 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the first quarter, valued at approximately $1.64 million, indicating growing institutional interest.
• Levi Strauss recently reported a quarterly EPS of $0.22, exceeding analysts' estimates of $0.13, and experienced a revenue increase of 6.4% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase, now set at $0.14 per share, reflecting a 2.5% dividend yield for shareholders.

Invesco Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 105,292 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,642,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 101.5% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,210 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the first quarter worth about $38,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 35.4% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,109 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,090 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 2,454 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.14% of the company's stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

NYSE LEVI traded down $0.03 on Thursday, reaching $22.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 816,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,475,146. Levi Strauss & Co. has a twelve month low of $12.17 and a twelve month high of $22.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market cap of $8.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.25. The firm's 50 day moving average is $20.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.95.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. Levi Strauss & Co.'s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 24th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 24th. This is a positive change from Levi Strauss & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Levi Strauss & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on LEVI. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. 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 report on Friday, July 11th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $24.00 price objective (up previously from $20.00) on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a report on Monday, July 14th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.45.

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.