PDT Partners LLC Purchases 111,493 Shares of Levi Strauss & Co. $LEVI

PDT Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) by 45.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 358,247 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 111,493 shares during the quarter. PDT Partners LLC’s holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. were worth $8,895,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Levi Strauss & Co. by 3.8% in the fourth 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Levi Strauss & Co. by 462.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,839,861 shares of the blue-jean maker’s stock valued at $89,489,000 after purchasing an additional 3,979,223 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position 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 worth $88,014,000 after buying an additional 1,296,474 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 294,053 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $60,854,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.14% of the company’s stock.

Levi Strauss & Co. Price Performance

Levi Strauss & Co. stock opened at $21.13 on Wednesday. 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. has a 52-week low of $17.72 and a 52-week high of $25.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $23.82 and its 200 day moving average is $22.23. The company has a market cap of $8.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.04, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.33.

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 company had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. Levi Strauss & Co. had a return on equity of 25.79% and a net margin of 9.66%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. Levi Strauss & Co. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.460-1.520 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 22nd were issued a $0.16 dividend. This is a boost from Levi Strauss & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 22nd. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Levi Strauss & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.51%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder E. Haas Jr. Family Fund Peter sold 145,662 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total transaction of $3,497,344.62. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 145,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,497,344.62. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total transaction of $1,145,781.21. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 783,560 shares of company stock worth $18,882,739 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on LEVI shares. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Levi Strauss & Co. in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Levi Strauss & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Levi Strauss & Co. from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Levi Strauss & Co. from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.43.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

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.