Maverick Capital Ltd. Makes New Investment in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 56,075 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,222,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEVI. FMR LLC increased its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 44.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,420,007 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $205,356,000 after buying an additional 2,907,099 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 2,083.0% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,923,206 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $37,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835,107 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2,070.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,431,518 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $27,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,365,574 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 6,794.9% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,244,873 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock valued at $24,001,000 after buying an additional 1,226,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 21.5% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,274,326 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $82,409,000 after purchasing an additional 756,926 shares during the period. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.15, for a total transaction of $79,778.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 154,178 shares in the company, valued at $2,952,508.70. The trade was a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 3.14% of the company's stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:LEVI traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $17.46. The stock had a trading volume of 1,313,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,868,331. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.95, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.18. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1-year low of $14.70 and a 1-year high of $24.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $18.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.45.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 2nd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 2.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. Levi Strauss & Co.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 136.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LEVI shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.75.

Levi Strauss & Co. Company Profile

Levi Strauss & Co designs, markets, and sells apparels and related accessories for men, women, and children worldwide. The company offers jeans, casual and dress pants, activewears, tops, shorts, skirts, dresses, jumpsuits, shirts, sweaters, jackets, footwear, and related accessories under the Levi's, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co, Denizen, and Beyond Yoga brands.