Wellington Management Group LLP Lowers Stake in Levi Strauss & Co. $LEVI

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 decreased its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,619,856 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock after selling 53,200 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 1.67% of Levi Strauss & Co. worth $103,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 101.5% in 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 purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 35.4% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,109 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the first quarter valued at approximately $81,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $24.00 price objective (up previously from $20.00) on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Nine 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.com, Levi Strauss & Co. has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $23.45.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE LEVI traded up $0.13 on Monday, hitting $21.44. 1,457,095 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,496,994. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.21. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52-week low of $12.17 and a 52-week 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 28.75%. Levi Strauss & Co.'s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.16 earnings per share. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 24th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. 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 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 24th. Levi Strauss & Co.'s payout ratio is presently 54.90%.

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.