Washington Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Washington Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 21.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,000 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Washington Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $588,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LEVI. FMR LLC increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 44.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,420,007 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $205,356,000 after buying an additional 2,907,099 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 2,083.0% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,923,206 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $37,079,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835,107 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 59.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,555,382 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $33,907,000 after acquiring an additional 579,460 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 6,794.9% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,244,873 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $24,001,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,230,069 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $26,816,000 after purchasing an additional 20,426 shares during the period. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $74,988.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 104,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,875,204. The trade was a 3.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Levi Strauss & Co. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.18.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

Shares of LEVI opened at $18.11 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Levi Strauss & Co. has a twelve month low of $15.62 and a twelve month high of $24.34. The company has a market cap of $7.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.16.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 2.52%. As a group, analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.