Vanguard Group Inc. Has $136.56 Million Stock Holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. $LEVI

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. sold 65,519 shares of Levi Strauss & Co., reducing its holdings by 0.7% to approximately 8.76 million shares, valued at around $136.56 million.
• Levi Strauss & Co. reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.22, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.13, with a revenue increase of 6.4% year-over-year to $1.45 billion.
• The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.14 per share from $0.13, representing an annual yield of 2.7%.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,759,464 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock after selling 65,519 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 2.21% of Levi Strauss & Co. worth $136,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEVI. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 560.0% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,883,995 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $32,593,000 after acquiring an additional 1,598,523 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the first quarter valued at about $19,779,000. Fund 1 Investments LLC bought a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at about $11,869,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 53.7% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,916,568 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $33,157,000 after acquiring an additional 669,624 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 5,864.9% during the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 508,146 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $8,791,000 after acquiring an additional 499,627 shares during the period. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LEVI. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $23.45.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

NYSE LEVI traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $22.19. 1,484,031 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,084,788. The stock has a market cap of $8.78 billion, a PE ratio of 21.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.21. Levi Strauss & Co. has a one year low of $12.17 and a one year high of $22.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $20.10 and a 200-day moving average of $17.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 28.75% and a net margin of 6.40%.Levi Strauss & Co.'s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. On average, equities 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. Investors of record on Thursday, July 24th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This is a boost from Levi Strauss & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 24th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Levi Strauss & Co.'s dividend payout ratio 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.