SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Buys New Stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 21,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of UL. Stonegate Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Unilever by 155.2% during the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 8,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 5,117 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Unilever by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 655,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,193,000 after purchasing an additional 9,528 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Unilever during the 3rd quarter worth $11,694,000. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Unilever by 236.2% in the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 30,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,997,000 after purchasing an additional 21,441 shares during the period. Finally, Radnor Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Unilever in the third quarter valued at about $1,388,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on UL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Unilever from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. DZ Bank raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Unilever in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Unilever has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.33.

Unilever Price Performance

Shares of UL stock opened at $57.74 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $56.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.28 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.50. Unilever PLC has a 1-year low of $46.46 and a 1-year high of $65.87.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.4674 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.01%.

Unilever Profile

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.