Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI – Get Rating) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,990,000 shares, a decrease of 11.9% from the July 31st total of 7,930,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,900,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Seth Jaffe sold 11,948 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.44, for a total transaction of $196,425.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 148,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,438,035.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Levi Strauss & Co.

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEVI. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 19.1% in the first quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,480,060 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $128,046,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039,754 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 20.5% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,365,036 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $125,773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084,969 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 2.4% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,150,090 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $35,089,000 after purchasing an additional 50,239 shares during the period. Cambridge Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 387.5% in the first quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 2,072,760 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $40,958,000 after purchasing an additional 1,647,540 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Levi Strauss & Co. by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,155,274 shares of the blue-jean maker's stock worth $28,917,000 after purchasing an additional 203,977 shares during the period. 17.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Levi Strauss & Co. Stock Down 3.3 %

Levi Strauss & Co. stock traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $16.89. The stock had a trading volume of 2,861,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,827,521. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11. Levi Strauss & Co. has a 12-month low of $15.61 and a 12-month high of $28.62. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $18.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.76.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 7th. The blue-jean maker reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.06. Levi Strauss & Co. had a net margin of 9.48% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Levi Strauss & Co. will post 1.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Levi Strauss & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. This is a positive change from Levi Strauss & Co.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 29th. Levi Strauss & Co.'s payout ratio is 33.33%.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

(Get Rating)

Levi Strauss & Co operates as an apparel company. The company designs, markets, and sells jeans, casual and dress pants, activewear, tops, shorts, skirts, dresses, jackets, footwear, and related accessories for men, women, and children in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. It also sells its products under the Levi's, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co, and Denizen brands.

Recommended Stories

• Get a free copy of the StockNews.com research report on Levi Strauss & Co. (LEVI)
• Crowdstrike Stock Retraces, As Earnings Sober Expectations
• Will The Institutions Buy The Dip In Ambarella Stock?
• PVH Corporation Is On Track For Capital Returns
• Can Pinterest Rally On Support From Big Investor With Conviction?
• Chargepoint Rallies, Despite Weaker Earnings

Receive News & Ratings for Levi Strauss & Co. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Levi Strauss & Co. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.