Teacher Retirement System of Texas Raises Stock Position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) by 87.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,967 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock after acquiring an additional 25,197 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $841,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,998 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $16,383,000 after purchasing an additional 152,590 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $7,180,000. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 55.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 67,401 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in 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 valued at $27,823,000 after acquiring an additional 219,546 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 143.6% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 29,479 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $460,000 after acquiring an additional 17,376 shares in the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on LEVI. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup raised their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.18.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE LEVI traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $21.00. 983,567 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,229,492. The company has a market capitalization of $8.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.48. The business's 50 day moving average is $18.27 and its 200-day moving average is $17.26. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1 year low of $12.17 and a 1 year high of $22.35.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.09. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 28.75%. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.16 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

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

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.