Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) Short Interest Up 18.5% in March

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,080,000 shares, an increase of 18.5% from the March 15th total of 5,130,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,490,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Levi Strauss & Co. 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 value of $76,821.04. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 100,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,844,221.28. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Levi Strauss & Co.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LEVI. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Levi Strauss & Co. during the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Matrix Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 678.9% in the fourth quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 5,507 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the fourth quarter valued at $105,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEVI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays cut their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.18.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

NYSE:LEVI traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $15.06. 2,868,074 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,156,628. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $16.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.15. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 1-year low of $12.17 and a 1-year high of $24.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion, a PE ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last released its 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 business had revenue of $1.53 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 24th will be given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.