Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Sells 1,228 Shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. decreased its position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 5.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,951 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,228 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Unilever were worth $1,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of UL. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Unilever by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 25,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,256,000 after buying an additional 915 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Unilever by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp purchased a new position in Unilever during the 1st quarter valued at about $223,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Unilever by 213.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 277,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,937,000 after purchasing an additional 189,121 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Unilever by 199.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 80,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,043,000 after purchasing an additional 53,651 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on UL shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America upgraded Unilever from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Unilever in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Unilever presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.75.

Unilever Price Performance

Shares of UL stock opened at $59.84 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $61.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.77. Unilever PLC has a 1-year low of $46.46 and a 1-year high of $65.87. The company has a market cap of $148.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.49.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.4755 per share. This is a positive change from Unilever’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Unilever’s payout ratio is presently 56.46%.

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.