Emerald Investment Advisers LLC Boosts Stake in Levi Strauss & Co. $LEVI

Emerald Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 91.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 81,190 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after buying an additional 38,709 shares during the period. Emerald Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $2,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,320,747 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $193,312,000 after buying an additional 342,009 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 462.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,839,861 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $89,489,000 after acquiring an additional 3,979,223 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 44.0% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,243,680 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $88,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296,474 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 9.3% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,457,702 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $80,564,000 after acquiring an additional 294,053 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the second quarter worth approximately $60,854,000. 69.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LEVI. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.43.

Insider Activity

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, major shareholder E. Haas Jr. Family Fund Peter sold 145,662 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $3,497,344.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 145,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,497,344.62. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Harmit J. Singh sold 98,144 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.22, for a total value of $2,377,047.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,747 shares in the company, valued at $2,391,652.34. This trade represents a 49.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 988,460 shares of company stock worth $23,546,327. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Up 1.4%

LEVI opened at $21.52 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.19. The company has a market capitalization of $8.28 billion, a PE ratio of 13.28, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.33. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1-year low of $17.72 and a 1-year high of $25.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 8th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 25.79% and a net margin of 9.66%.Levi Strauss & Co.’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. Levi Strauss & Co. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.460-1.520 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 22nd were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 22nd. This is an increase from Levi Strauss & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.51%.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

Levi Strauss & Co is a global apparel company best known for its denim jeans and casual wear. Founded in 1853 in San Francisco by Bavarian immigrant Levi Strauss, the company pioneered the modern blue jean with the introduction of rivet-reinforced work pants. Over its more than 160-year history, Levi Strauss has evolved into a lifestyle brand, offering a broad portfolio that includes denim for men, women and children, as well as tops, outerwear, footwear and accessories.

The company’s flagship label, Levi’s®, is recognized worldwide for its iconic styles such as the 501® Original Fit Jeans, while additional brands, including Dockers®, Target core metric, and Denizen® by Levi’s, cater to diverse price points and consumer segments.