Quantbot Technologies LP Makes New $2.73 Million Investment in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 157,931 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,732,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEVI. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $498,000. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $278,000. Jensen Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 213,270 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $3,690,000 after acquiring an additional 12,300 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 54,892 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $950,000 after acquiring an additional 5,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 52.5% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,969 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 5,842 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on LEVI. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays reduced their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.27.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $16.03 on Friday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $15.45 and a fifty-two week high of $24.34. The firm has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a PE ratio of 30.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s fifty day moving average is $17.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.94. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.50 earnings per share 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%. Analysts anticipate that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Insider Transactions at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total transaction of $76,821.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 100,012 shares in the company, valued at $1,844,221.28. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

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.