Bradley J. Haas Sells 85,985 Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Stock

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) major shareholder Bradley J. Haas sold 85,985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.06, for a total transaction of $1,896,829.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Bradley J. Haas also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, April 4th, Bradley J. Haas sold 14,015 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.05, for a total transaction of $309,030.75.
• On Monday, April 1st, Bradley J. Haas sold 26,959 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.14, for a total transaction of $542,954.26.
• On Thursday, March 28th, Bradley J. Haas sold 23,041 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total transaction of $461,050.41.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Down 2.2 %

LEVI opened at $21.10 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $19.13 and a 200 day moving average of $16.76. The company has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a PE ratio of 68.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.22. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12 month low of $12.41 and a 12 month high of $22.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 3rd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 2.05% and a return on equity of 20.68%. The business had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 9th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 8th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 154.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LEVI. Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. TheStreet raised shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.56.

Institutional Trading of Levi Strauss & Co.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,294,342 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $112,637,000 after purchasing an additional 90,776 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,834,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 959.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 294,412 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $4,870,000 after buying an additional 266,612 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,626,322 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $117,145,000 after buying an additional 610,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. raised its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 306.8% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 45,916 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 34,629 shares in the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

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.