The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires 669,624 Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) by 53.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,916,568 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock after purchasing an additional 669,624 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.48% of Levi Strauss & Co. worth $33,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LEVI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 19.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 152,590 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $511,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,415,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,608,253 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $27,823,000 after acquiring an additional 219,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 55.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 67,401 shares in the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total value of $76,821.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 100,012 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,844,221.28. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE LEVI opened at $15.82 on Friday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1 year low of $12.17 and a 1 year high of $24.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.69 and a 200 day moving average of $16.96. The stock has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Levi Strauss & Co.'s payout ratio is presently 58.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on LEVI. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Levi Strauss & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays decreased their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.45.

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.

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