Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Shares Purchased by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) by 87.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,967 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock after buying an additional 25,197 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 101.5% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,210 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 35.4% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,109 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in 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 worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 2,454 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEVI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $25.00 price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.18.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:LEVI traded down $0.34 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $20.97. 4,108,894 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,232,296. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.48. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $12.17 and a 12-month high of $22.35. The firm has a market cap of $8.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.15. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $18.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.23.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.16 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 24th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. This is a boost from Levi Strauss & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Levi Strauss & Co.'s payout ratio is presently 50.98%.

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.