Larson Financial Group LLC Buys 556 Shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,260 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Unilever were worth $1,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Unilever by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,940,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,017,253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214,563 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Unilever by 66.4% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,454,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,881,000 after acquiring an additional 1,378,517 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Unilever during the 4th quarter worth about $176,806,000. Hamlin Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Unilever by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 2,874,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,008,000 after acquiring an additional 207,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Equity Investment Corp grew its holdings in Unilever by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 2,169,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,993,000 after acquiring an additional 36,922 shares in the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Unilever in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Unilever from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.33.

Unilever Stock Performance

NYSE:UL opened at $59.24 on Friday. Unilever PLC has a fifty-two week low of $46.46 and a fifty-two week high of $65.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.83.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.4674 dividend. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.01%.

About Unilever

Unilever PLC operates as a fast-moving consumer goods company in the Asia Pacific, Africa, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through five segments: Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, Nutrition, and Ice Cream. The Beauty & Wellbeing segment engages in the sale of hair care products, such as shampoo, conditioner, and styling; skin care products including face, hand, and body moisturizer; and prestige beauty and health & wellbeing products consist of the vitamins, minerals, and supplements.