Northern Trust Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) by 23.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 401,545 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock after buying an additional 76,084 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.10% of Levi Strauss & Co. worth $6,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,998 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $16,383,000 after buying an additional 152,590 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $511,000. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. now owns 188,714 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $3,265,000 after buying an additional 67,401 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,415,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,608,253 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $27,823,000 after buying an additional 219,546 shares during the period. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Levi Strauss & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $14.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $20.45.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of LEVI stock traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $17.75. The stock had a trading volume of 1,972,318 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,172,716. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.02 billion, a PE ratio of 34.13, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. Levi Strauss & Co. has a twelve month low of $12.17 and a twelve month high of $24.34. The stock's 50 day moving average is $15.87 and its 200 day moving average is $16.90. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 25.88% and a net margin of 3.32%. The company's revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 24th. Levi Strauss & Co.'s payout ratio is currently 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.