The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company significantly increased its stake in Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 53.7% during the fourth quarter, as revealed in its recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor now holds 1,916,568 shares of the apparel company’s stock, valued at $33,157,000, representing 0.48% of Levi Strauss & Co.’s total shares.
This move is part of a larger trend among institutional investors. Other major investors have also adjusted their holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. during the same period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake by 19.2%, now owning 946,998 shares worth $16,383,000. Entropy Technologies LP and Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd established new positions in the company, valued at approximately $511,000 and $1,415,000, respectively. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake by 15.8%, holding 1,608,253 shares worth $27,823,000. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. also increased its holdings by 55.6%, now owning 188,714 shares valued at $3,265,000.
Institutional investors currently hold 69.14% of Levi Strauss & Co.’s stock. In other news, Director David A. Friedman sold 4,166 shares on February 3rd at an average price of $18.44, reducing his holdings by 4%. Insiders own 1.25% of the company’s stock.
Levi Strauss & Co.’s stock performance has been notable, with shares opening at $15.82 on Friday. The company has a 1-year low of $12.17 and a 1-year high of $24.34. The business reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.38 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28. Revenue was $1.53 billion, slightly below analyst expectations of $1.54 billion. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share, payable on May 9th to stockholders of record on April 24th.
Analysts have varied opinions on Levi Strauss & Co. Guggenheim raised its target price from $20.00 to $22.00 and maintained a ‘buy’ rating. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded its price objective from $25.00 to $20.00 but kept a ‘buy’ rating. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded the stock from ‘neutral’ to ‘overweight’ with a reduced target price of $17.00. Barclays set an ‘overweight’ rating with a lowered target price of $18.00, while Citigroup decreased its price objective to $14.00 and assigned a ‘neutral’ rating. The stock currently has an average rating of ‘Moderate Buy’ with an average target price of $19.45.
