Gotham Asset Management LLC Purchases 48,478 Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) by 147.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 81,259 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock after purchasing an additional 48,478 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC's holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $1,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,998 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $16,383,000 after buying an additional 152,590 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,180,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $511,000. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in 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 last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter worth $1,415,000. 69.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on LEVI shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $20.45.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 2.2%

LEVI stock traded up $0.38 during trading on Thursday, reaching $17.70. The company had a trading volume of 413,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,382,457. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52 week low of $12.17 and a 52 week high of $24.34. The business has a 50 day moving average of $15.80 and a 200 day moving average of $16.89. The company has a market cap of $7.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.03, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 25.88% and a net margin of 3.32%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 24th. Levi Strauss & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.43%.

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.