O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 21.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,404 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after selling 3,962 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,998 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $16,383,000 after purchasing an additional 152,590 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at about $511,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,415,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,608,253 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $27,823,000 after acquiring an additional 219,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 119.8% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,541,784 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $26,858,000 after acquiring an additional 840,251 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $15.03 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a PE ratio of 28.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.41. Levi Strauss & Co. has a one year low of $12.17 and a one year high of $24.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.42.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.10. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 25.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. Levi Strauss & Co.’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.43%.

Insider Transactions at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total transaction of $76,821.04. Following the transaction, the director now owns 100,012 shares in the company, valued at $1,844,221.28. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEVI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Levi Strauss & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America upgraded Levi Strauss & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Levi Strauss & Co. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.18.

Levi Strauss & Co. Company Profile

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.