Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 119.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,541,784 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after buying an additional 840,251 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned 0.39% of Levi Strauss & Co. worth $26,858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,420,007 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $205,356,000 after buying an additional 2,907,099 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $33,907,000 after acquiring an additional 579,460 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 20,426 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,123,957 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $24,512,000 after purchasing an additional 20,870 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 794,408 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $17,318,000 after purchasing an additional 110,993 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup dropped 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. Barclays reduced their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.27.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LEVI opened at $18.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.22, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.20. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12 month low of $15.62 and a 12 month high of $24.34.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 25.88%. Analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Levi Strauss & Co. news, Director David A. Friedman sold 8,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $149,976.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 108,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,950,192. This represents a 7.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,664 shares of company stock worth $301,785. 3.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.