Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) Short Interest Down 17.2% in March

Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,540,000 shares, a drop of 17.2% from the March 15th total of 1,860,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,890,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.5 days. Currently, 0.1% of the company's shares are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Unilever

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UL. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Unilever by 77.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,199 shares of the company's stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Unilever by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 639,518 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,543,000 after purchasing an additional 4,398 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Unilever during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,025,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Unilever in the third quarter worth approximately $3,310,000. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Unilever during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,756,000. 9.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on UL. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Unilever from a "sector perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Unilever from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Unilever from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Unilever from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $66.33.

Unilever Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE UL traded down $1.08 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $62.62. The stock had a trading volume of 1,196,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,912,722. The company has a market cap of $154.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.94, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.42. The business's 50 day moving average is $59.32 and its 200-day moving average is $58.86. Unilever has a 52 week low of $51.15 and a 52 week high of $65.87.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.4674 per share. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Unilever's payout ratio is currently 53.01%.

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.