Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC Purchases New Stake in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 50,796 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock, valued at approximately $879,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LEVI. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 44.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,420,007 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $205,356,000 after purchasing an additional 2,907,099 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 59.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,555,382 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $33,907,000 after buying an additional 579,460 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 119.8% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,541,784 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $26,858,000 after acquiring an additional 840,251 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,230,069 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $26,816,000 after acquiring an additional 20,426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,123,957 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $24,512,000 after acquiring an additional 20,870 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 8,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $149,976.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 108,344 shares in the company, valued at $1,950,192. The trade was a 7.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 16,664 shares of company stock worth $301,785 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $18.18 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $17.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 52-week low of $15.62 and a 52-week high of $24.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.17.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 25.88% and a net margin of 3.32%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 100.00%.

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.