Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Has $22.70 Million Stock Holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) by 164.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,312,150 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock after purchasing an additional 815,950 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.33% of Levi Strauss & Co. worth $22,700,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 114,442 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $1,980,000 after acquiring an additional 892 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 54,151 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $937,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,103 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 2,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LEVI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America raised shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $19.18.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

LEVI traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $14.82. 694,600 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,148,195. 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 business's 50-day moving average price is $16.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a PE ratio of 28.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1-year low of $12.17 and a 1-year high of $24.34.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 25.88%. The company's revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 24th. Levi Strauss & Co.'s payout ratio is 58.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total transaction of $76,821.04. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 100,012 shares in the company, valued at $1,844,221.28. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.