Principal Street Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Principal Street Partners LLC lessened its stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL - Free Report) by 49.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,744 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,660 shares during the quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC's holdings in Unilever were worth $439,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Unilever by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,940,963 shares of the company's stock worth $1,017,253,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214,563 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Unilever by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,906,824 shares of the company's stock valued at $448,317,000 after purchasing an additional 257,538 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Unilever by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,103,075 shares of the company's stock valued at $289,345,000 after purchasing an additional 250,053 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Unilever by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,830,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $217,191,000 after buying an additional 327,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Unilever by 140.1% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,719,284 shares of the company's stock valued at $210,883,000 after buying an additional 2,170,242 shares during the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on UL shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Unilever from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group raised Unilever from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, DZ Bank raised Unilever from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Unilever has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.50.

Unilever Stock Performance

Shares of UL opened at $62.47 on Tuesday. Unilever PLC has a fifty-two week low of $53.50 and a fifty-two week high of $65.87. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.84. The company has a market capitalization of $154.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.44.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.5151 dividend. This is an increase from Unilever's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Unilever's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.03%.

Unilever Company 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.

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