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Advisors Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor held 614,490 shares after selling 51,004 shares in the period. Its Unilever holdings were valued at $40,188,000 as of the latest filing.
Other large investors also reported changes to their Unilever positions. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake by 66.2% in the fourth quarter, bringing its total to 87,844 shares valued at $5,745,000 after buying an additional 34,982 shares. WPG Advisers LLC raised its stake by 196.2%, now owning 551 shares valued at $36,000 after purchasing 365 additional shares.
Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Unilever during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position by 160.8%, increasing its holdings to 82,192 shares worth $5,375,000 after adding 50,682 shares. Tred Avon Family Wealth LLC increased its stake by 4.1%, now holding 13,584 shares valued at $888,000 after buying an additional 533 shares.
Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.67% of Unilever’s stock.
Unilever shares opened at $58.12 on Friday. The stock has a 52-week low of $54.95 and a 52-week high of $74.97. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $63.44, while its 200-day moving average price is $65.93.
Unilever last reported quarterly earnings on Thursday, February 12. The company posted EPS of $0.75 for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $1.00. Revenue was $11.87 billion for the quarter, compared with analysts’ expectations of $31.39 billion. For the current fiscal year, research analysts forecast Unilever will post 3.68 EPS.
Unilever also disclosed a quarterly dividend paid on Friday, April 10. Shareholders of record as of Friday, February 27 received a dividend of $0.5547 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27. The dividend equates to $2.22 on an annualized basis and implies a yield of 3.8%.
Unilever has been covered in multiple research reports. Kepler Capital Markets downgraded the stock from “buy” to “hold” on Tuesday, February 17. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Unilever from “buy” to “hold” on Monday, February 9. BNP Paribas Exane set a $71.00 target price and assigned a “neutral” rating on Thursday, January 8. Argus upgraded Unilever to a “strong-buy” rating on Monday, March 2. Weiss Ratings downgraded the stock from “hold (c-)” to “sell (d+)” on Tuesday, March 31.
Across analysts tracked by MarketBeat.com, two issued Strong Buy ratings, two issued Buy ratings, five issued Hold ratings, and three assigned Sell ratings. The average rating is “Hold,” with an average price target of $65.55.
Unilever PLC is a global consumer goods company with roots dating back to the early 20th century, formed from the merger of the British firm Lever Brothers and the Dutch company Margarine Unie. The company develops, manufactures and markets branded products across personal care, home care, and foods and refreshments.
Unilever’s business is organized around major product categories: Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment, and includes well-known consumer brands across those categories.
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