Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires New Shares in Levi Strauss & Co. $LEVI

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co., purchasing 25,288 shares valued at approximately $483,000 during the second quarter.
• Levi Strauss & Co. announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.14 per share, representing a yield of 2.3%, up from the previous $0.13.
• Several institutional investors, including the Teacher Retirement System of Texas and SG Americas Securities LLC, significantly increased their holdings in Levi Strauss & Co., with institutional ownership currently at 69.14%.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 25,288 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock, valued at approximately $483,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 87.6% during the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 53,967 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 25,197 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. in the 1st quarter worth about $402,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 143.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 29,479 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 17,376 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. in the 1st quarter worth about $3,259,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,639,565 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $26,856,000 after acquiring an additional 97,781 shares during the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, major shareholder Margaret E. Haas sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.14, for a total value of $1,207,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder E. Haas Jr. Family Fund Peter sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total value of $3,628,500.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 201,150 shares of company stock valued at $4,860,018 over the last 90 days. 1.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of LEVI stock opened at $24.41 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a PE ratio of 23.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.30. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1-year low of $12.17 and a 1-year high of $24.82. The business has a 50-day moving average of $21.78 and a 200 day moving average of $18.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 24th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 24th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Levi Strauss & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Levi Strauss & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LEVI. Bank of America upped their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Barclays upped their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $25.00.

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.

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