Hsbc Holdings PLC Takes Position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 25,579 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock, valued at approximately $446,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $16,383,000 after buying an additional 152,590 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at about $511,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,415,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,608,253 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $27,823,000 after buying an additional 219,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings 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 valued at $3,265,000 after buying an additional 67,401 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on LEVI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America upgraded Levi Strauss & Co. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $19.45.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Up 0.5%

Levi Strauss & Co. stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $17.82. 429,681 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,142,831. The company's 50-day moving average is $15.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.42. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52-week low of $12.17 and a 52-week high of $24.34. The firm has a market cap of $7.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.27, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.54 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 25.88%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Levi Strauss & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.43%.

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.