Bank of New York Mellon Corp Purchases 3,979,223 Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. $LEVI

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 462.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,839,861 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,979,223 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $89,489,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,320,747 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $193,312,000 after acquiring an additional 342,009 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,243,680 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $88,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296,474 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 9.3% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,457,702 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $80,564,000 after purchasing an additional 294,053 shares in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 2,219,599 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $46,034,000 after purchasing an additional 531,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. by 83.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,958,271 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock worth $36,208,000 after purchasing an additional 890,752 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Levi Strauss & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Levi Strauss & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.46.

Levi Strauss & Co. Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of LEVI stock opened at $24.61 on Wednesday. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $17.72 and a 12-month high of $25.58. The company has a market capitalization of $9.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $23.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 8th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 25.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. Levi Strauss & Co. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.460-1.520 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This is a boost from Levi Strauss & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 22nd. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder E. Haas Jr. Family Fund Peter sold 145,662 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total transaction of $3,497,344.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 145,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,497,344.62. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Margaret E. Haas sold 47,721 shares of Levi Strauss & Co. stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $1,145,781.21. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 1,236,803 shares of company stock worth $28,742,192 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Profile

Levi Strauss & Co is a global apparel company best known for its denim jeans and casual wear. Founded in 1853 in San Francisco by Bavarian immigrant Levi Strauss, the company pioneered the modern blue jean with the introduction of rivet-reinforced work pants. Over its more than 160-year history, Levi Strauss has evolved into a lifestyle brand, offering a broad portfolio that includes denim for men, women and children, as well as tops, outerwear, footwear and accessories.

The company’s flagship label, Levi’s®, is recognized worldwide for its iconic styles such as the 501® Original Fit Jeans, while additional brands, including Dockers®, Target core metric, and Denizen® by Levi’s, cater to diverse price points and consumer segments.