Saturna Capital Corp Increases Position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Saturna Capital Corp boosted its position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 605,943 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,300 shares during the quarter. Saturna Capital Corp’s holdings in Unilever were worth $36,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. May Hill Capital LLC bought a new stake in Unilever during the fourth quarter valued at about $296,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Unilever by 33.2% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 934,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,668,000 after acquiring an additional 232,945 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Unilever by 69.7% in the first quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 14,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $850,000 after purchasing an additional 5,867 shares in the last quarter. Argent Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Unilever by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 45,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,573,000 after purchasing an additional 11,555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Unilever by 56.7% in the first quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 13,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 5,051 shares in the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group raised shares of Unilever from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. BNP Paribas raised shares of Unilever to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Unilever in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.67.

Unilever Trading Down 0.8%

Unilever stock opened at $59.82 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.83 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.41. Unilever PLC has a 1-year low of $54.32 and a 1-year high of $65.87.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.5151 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This is a positive change from Unilever’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio 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.