Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Major Shareholder Sells $24,518.00 in Stock

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) major shareholder Bradley J. Haas sold 1,150 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.32, for a total value of $24,518.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company's stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE LEVI traded down $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $20.91. The stock had a trading volume of 2,441,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,235,206. The business's 50-day moving average price is $18.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.26. The company has a market cap of $8.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.15. Levi Strauss & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $12.17 and a fifty-two week high of $22.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.48.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 28.75% and a net margin of 6.40%. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.16 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 24th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This is a boost from Levi Strauss & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 24th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. Levi Strauss & Co.'s payout ratio is presently 50.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on LEVI shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $24.00 target price (up previously from $20.00) on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company set a $25.00 price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $23.45.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Levi Strauss & Co.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,824,983 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $152,672,000 after buying an additional 133,978 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,673,056 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $115,444,000 after buying an additional 81,435 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 65.1% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,110,200 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $48,488,000 after buying an additional 1,226,205 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,189,815 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $34,139,000 after buying an additional 273,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 53.7% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,916,568 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $33,157,000 after buying an additional 669,624 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company's stock.

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.