Millennium Management LLC Increases Position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 560.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,883,995 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,598,523 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned about 0.48% of Levi Strauss & Co. worth $32,593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,998 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $16,383,000 after buying an additional 152,590 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,180,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $511,000. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. now owns 188,714 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $3,265,000 after buying an additional 67,401 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,415,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America raised shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.82.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of LEVI stock opened at $17.67 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $7.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.98, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50 day moving average is $15.71 and its 200 day moving average is $16.87. 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. has a 52-week low of $12.17 and a 52-week high of $24.34.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 25.88%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.43%.

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.