Olympiad Research LP Invests $348,000 in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Olympiad Research LP bought a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 20,104 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 132,942 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $2,300,000 after purchasing an additional 24,536 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $325,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $115,000. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $879,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position 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 valued at $26,858,000 after buying an additional 840,251 shares during the last quarter. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total transaction of $76,821.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 100,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,844,221.28. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,664 shares of company stock worth $301,785. 3.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $18.41 on Friday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1 year low of $15.62 and a 1 year high of $24.34. The firm has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a PE ratio of 35.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $17.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

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

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on LEVI. Citigroup lowered their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lowered their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.