Value Partners Investments Inc. Increases Holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Value Partners Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL - Free Report) by 56.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,958 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,051 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc.'s holdings in Unilever were worth $832,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $1,017,253,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214,563 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 257,538 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 250,053 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Unilever by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,830,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $217,191,000 after acquiring an additional 327,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Unilever by 140.1% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,719,284 shares of the company's stock valued at $210,883,000 after acquiring an additional 2,170,242 shares in the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Unilever from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. BNP Paribas raised Unilever to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. UBS Group raised Unilever from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Unilever in a report on Thursday, May 29th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Unilever has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $70.67.

Unilever Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of UL opened at $61.30 on Thursday. Unilever PLC has a 12 month low of $54.32 and a 12 month high of $65.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $62.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.59. The firm has a market cap of $150.47 billion, a PE ratio of 17.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.43.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $0.5151 dividend. This is a positive change from Unilever's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. Unilever's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.03%.

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.

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