Thompson Investment Management Inc. Buys 18,200 Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Thompson Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 113.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 34,200 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,200 shares during the period. Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2,904.1% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 5,137 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 4,966 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 678.9% during the fourth quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 5,507 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $105,000. Institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 8,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $149,976.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 108,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,950,192. This represents a 7.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 16,664 shares of company stock valued at $301,785 over the last ninety days. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Down 3.3 %

NYSE LEVI opened at $18.43 on Friday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12 month low of $15.62 and a 12 month high of $24.34. The stock has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $17.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.50 EPS 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on LEVI shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” 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. 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. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.27.

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.