Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 20,426 Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 1.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,230,069 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,426 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $26,816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. 272 Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the second quarter worth $35,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth $56,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 2,904.1% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. in the 2nd quarter worth $135,000. Institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Levi Strauss & Co.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $149,976.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 108,344 shares in the company, valued at $1,950,192. This represents a 7.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

Shares of LEVI stock opened at $16.79 on Thursday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12 month low of $14.87 and a 12 month high of $24.34. The company has a market capitalization of $6.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $17.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 2nd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 2.52%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 136.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on LEVI. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.75.

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.