Washington Trust Bank Purchases New Holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Washington Trust Bank purchased a new position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $262,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Unilever by 3.4% during the 4th 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 increased its position in shares of Unilever by 5.2% during the 4th 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 period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Unilever by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,925,891 shares of the company's stock valued at $233,787,000 after purchasing an additional 95,359 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Unilever by 140.1% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,719,284 shares of the company's stock valued at $210,883,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170,242 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Unilever by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,926,892 shares of the company's stock valued at $165,955,000 after purchasing an additional 14,083 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 9.67% of the company's stock.

Unilever Price Performance

UL traded down $0.16 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $60.75. 1,644,628 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,490,330. The stock has a market cap of $149.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.41. Unilever PLC has a fifty-two week low of $54.32 and a fifty-two week high of $65.87. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $62.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.77.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a $0.5151 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. This is a boost from Unilever's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. Unilever's payout ratio is currently 59.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upgraded Unilever from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. BNP Paribas upgraded Unilever to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Unilever in a report on Thursday, May 29th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Unilever from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.67.

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.