Paragon Capital Management Ltd Makes New Investment in Levi Strauss & Co. $LEVI

Key Points

• Paragon Capital Management Ltd has acquired a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co., purchasing 13,926 shares valued at approximately $257,000.
• Several other institutional investors have also increased their holdings in Levi Strauss, with Xcel Wealth Management boosting its position by 22.3% during the second quarter.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.22, surpassing expectations, and announced an increase in its dividend to $0.14 per share, resulting in a yield of 2.4%.

Paragon Capital Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 13,926 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LEVI. Xcel Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 22.3% during the second quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC now owns 134,205 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $2,481,000 after purchasing an additional 24,494 shares during the last quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $295,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1,180,700.0% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 11,808 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 11,807 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the second quarter valued at $483,000. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 80.1% during the second quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 21,330 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 9,485 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LEVI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Thursday. They set a "buy" rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $24.00.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of LEVI stock opened at $23.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.25. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1 year low of $12.17 and a 1 year high of $23.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.54.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.09. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 28.75% and a net margin of 6.40%.The business 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 for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is currently 54.90%.

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.

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