Cheviot Value Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Unilever PLC $UL

Key Points

• Cheviot Value Management reduced its Unilever position by 12% in the fourth quarter, selling 45,253 shares and leaving it with 332,017 shares worth about $22.1 million.
• Analyst sentiment on Unilever is mixed, with recent rating changes including a downgrade from Weiss Ratings and upgrades from Argus and DZ Bank; the stock’s overall consensus rating is currently Hold with a $65.55 target price.
• Unilever shares were trading at $58.38, near their 52-week low of $54.95, and the company recently reported earnings that missed expectations, while also ঘোষণাing a quarterly dividend of $0.5449 per share.

Cheviot Value Management LLC cut its position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL - Free Report) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 332,017 shares of the company's stock after selling 45,253 shares during the quarter. Unilever accounts for 2.3% of Cheviot Value Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Cheviot Value Management LLC's holdings in Unilever were worth $22,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of UL. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Unilever by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,665,544 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,054,973,000 after acquiring an additional 2,935,227 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Unilever by 13,906.2% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,268,300 shares of the company's stock worth $134,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,252,105 shares during the period. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich purchased a new stake in Unilever during the third quarter worth about $82,461,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Unilever by 4.4% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,537,917 shares of the company's stock worth $1,336,048,000 after purchasing an additional 959,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Unilever by 78.8% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,933,422 shares of the company's stock worth $118,261,000 after purchasing an additional 852,099 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on UL. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Unilever from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Argus upgraded shares of Unilever to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Kepler Capital Markets cut shares of Unilever from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. DZ Bank raised Unilever from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Unilever from an "underperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Unilever currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.55.

Unilever Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UL opened at $58.38 on Friday. Unilever PLC has a 52 week low of $54.95 and a 52 week high of $74.97. The company's 50 day moving average is $61.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.42.

Unilever (NYSE:UL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.75 by ($1.00). The firm had revenue of $11.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.39 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Unilever PLC will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.5449 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th.

About Unilever

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 a broad portfolio of branded products in personal care, home care and foods and refreshments. Unilever's corporate structure and listings reflect its long history in both the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and it operates at scale across diverse consumer markets worldwide.

Unilever's business is organized around major product categories—Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care and Foods & Refreshment—and includes numerous well-known consumer brands across those categories.

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