Oxford Asset Management LLP Buys New Stake in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Oxford Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 35,462 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock, valued at approximately $613,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Matrix Trust Co raised its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 678.9% in the 4th quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 5,507 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $105,000. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $115,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Levi Strauss & Co.

In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 100,012 shares in the company, valued at $1,844,221.28. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LEVI. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Levi Strauss & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Levi Strauss & Co. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.18.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:LEVI opened at $16.08 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $15.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.05. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1-year low of $12.17 and a 1-year high of $24.34. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.92, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.43%.

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.