Insider Selling: Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Major Shareholder Sells 85,985 Shares of Stock

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) major shareholder Bradley J. Haas sold 85,985 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.06, for a total value of $1,896,829.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Bradley J. Haas also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, April 4th, Bradley J. Haas sold 14,015 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.05, for a total transaction of $309,030.75.
• On Monday, April 1st, Bradley J. Haas sold 26,959 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.14, for a total transaction of $542,954.26.
• On Thursday, March 28th, Bradley J. Haas sold 23,041 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total value of $461,050.41.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Down 1.3 %

LEVI stock traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $21.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,436,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,598,178. The company has a market cap of $8.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $18.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12 month low of $12.41 and a 12 month high of $22.39.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 3rd. The blue-jean maker reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 20.68% and a net margin of 2.05%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s quarterly revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 9th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 154.84%.

Institutional Trading of Levi Strauss & Co.

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 21.5% in the third quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 9,541 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 1,690 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the third quarter valued at $195,000. Everett Harris & Co. CA bought a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the third quarter valued at $204,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $215,000. Finally, Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $223,000. 69.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LEVI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group raised their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Levi Strauss & Co. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.56.

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.