Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 595,215 Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 595,215 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock, valued at approximately $10,297,000. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. owned 0.15% of Levi Strauss & Co. as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,341,317 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $23,205,000 after buying an additional 137,933 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC raised its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 164.4% during the fourth quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 1,312,150 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $22,700,000 after acquiring an additional 815,950 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 324,182 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $5,607,000 after purchasing an additional 108,779 shares during the last quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 865,790 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $14,978,000 after buying an additional 231,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,450,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company's stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of LEVI traded up $0.28 during trading on Thursday, reaching $15.97. 1,957,494 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,152,173. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.10. The stock has a market cap of $6.32 billion, a PE ratio of 30.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07. Levi Strauss & Co. has a twelve month low of $12.17 and a twelve month high of $24.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.10. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 25.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. Levi Strauss & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Levi Strauss & Co. 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 value of $76,821.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 100,012 shares in the company, valued at $1,844,221.28. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays cut their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.18.

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.