Manchester Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Manchester Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 10.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,541 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $171,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LEVI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,391,385 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $138,794,000 after acquiring an additional 97,043 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,245,542 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $20,601,000 after buying an additional 196,270 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $1,361,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 158.3% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 155,000 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $2,564,000 after buying an additional 95,000 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 959.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 294,412 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $4,870,000 after acquiring an additional 266,612 shares in the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other news, major shareholder Bradley J. Haas sold 85,985 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.06, for a total transaction of $1,896,829.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, major shareholder Bradley J. Haas sold 85,985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.06, for a total value of $1,896,829.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.37, for a total transaction of $80,695.42. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 162,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,147,818.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 725,033 shares of company stock worth $16,276,940. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:LEVI traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $19.06. 359,367 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,453,725. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $22.04 and its 200-day moving average is $19.51. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $12.41 and a 12-month high of $24.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 23.21%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.04 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is a boost from Levi Strauss & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 137.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, OTR Global initiated coverage on Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Friday, June 14th. They issued a “positive” rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.38.

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.