Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Shares Acquired by Man Group plc

Man Group plc lifted its position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) by 42.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 162,897 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock after purchasing an additional 48,761 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc's holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $2,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $105,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 2,454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $115,000. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Levi Strauss & Co. currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.45.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LEVI traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $18.26. 195,664 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,162,072. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.91. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1-year low of $12.17 and a 1-year high of $24.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $7.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 25.88%. Levi Strauss & Co.'s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Levi Strauss & Co.'s dividend 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.