SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires 17,376 Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) by 143.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,479 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock after buying an additional 17,376 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 54,151 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $937,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 67.5% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,090 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 2,454 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 58.7% in the 1st quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 8,738 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $136,000 after acquiring an additional 3,231 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 3.4%

LEVI stock traded up $0.61 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $18.62. The company had a trading volume of 2,553,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,223,009. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52-week low of $12.17 and a 52-week high of $23.37. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.92, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.15. 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 issued its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.10. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 5.63% and a return on equity of 28.11%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. Levi Strauss & Co.'s payout ratio is currently 58.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEVI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Levi Strauss & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays raised their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $19.00 price objective (up previously from $14.00) on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $20.55.

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.