Northern Trust Corp Raises Holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL - Free Report) by 52.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,166,456 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 742,260 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.09% of Unilever worth $122,838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Unilever during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Unilever during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Unilever during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Unilever in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unilever in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. 9.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on UL shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Unilever from a "sector perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Unilever from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. DZ Bank upgraded Unilever from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Unilever from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.33.

Unilever Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:UL opened at $63.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $156.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.42. Unilever PLC has a twelve month low of $51.90 and a twelve month high of $65.87. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.87.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.5151 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. This is a boost from Unilever's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Unilever's payout ratio is 59.03%.

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.

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