Corbyn Investment Management Inc. MD Has $4.57 Million Stock Position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)

Corbyn Investment Management Inc. MD reduced its position in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 237,049 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after selling 31,744 shares during the period. Levi Strauss & Co. accounts for approximately 1.9% of Corbyn Investment Management Inc. MD’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Corbyn Investment Management Inc. MD’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $4,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LEVI. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the second quarter worth $195,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 11.9% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 23,838 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $460,000 after purchasing an additional 2,541 shares during the period. Waycross Investment Management Co grew its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2.6% during the second quarter. Waycross Investment Management Co now owns 38,195 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 955 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 11.6% during the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,441 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715 shares during the period. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the second quarter worth $343,000. 69.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.23, for a total transaction of $75,946.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 158,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,886,611.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 12,498 shares of company stock worth $236,421 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $18.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $18.54 and its 200-day moving average is $20.08. Levi Strauss & Co. has a one year low of $12.41 and a one year high of $24.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 23.21% and a net margin of 2.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.04 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. This is a positive change from Levi Strauss & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. Levi Strauss & Co.’s payout ratio is 148.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. OTR Global initiated coverage on Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Friday, June 14th. They issued a “positive” rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.38.

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.