Levi Strauss & Co. $LEVI Shares Sold by Wellington Management Group LLP

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 0.8%, owning approximately 6.6 million shares valued at $103.2 million.
• Levi Strauss & Co. reported a quarterly earnings beat with an EPS of $0.22 and revenues of $1.45 billion, exceeding estimates.
• The company announced a dividend increase to $0.14 per share, reflecting a 2.7% yield, up from the previous dividend of $0.13.

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,619,856 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock after selling 53,200 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 1.67% of Levi Strauss & Co. worth $103,204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 101.5% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,210 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the first quarter worth $38,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 35.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,109 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at $81,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company's stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of LEVI stock traded up $0.18 on Wednesday, hitting $22.15. The stock had a trading volume of 348,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,482,162. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.21. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1 year low of $12.17 and a 1 year high of $22.36. The company's 50 day moving average price is $20.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.76.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.09. The company 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 24th were given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 24th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from Levi Strauss & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Levi Strauss & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is 54.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEVI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $24.00 price target (up previously from $20.00) on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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 upped 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. Finally, Citigroup upped 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.45.

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.