PDS Planning Inc Grows Position in Unilever PLC $UL

PDS Planning Inc boosted its stake in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,850 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 927 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Unilever were worth $725,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Unilever by 33.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 934,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,668,000 after purchasing an additional 232,945 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Unilever by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,100,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,673,381,000 after acquiring an additional 3,421,054 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Unilever by 69.7% in the 1st quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 14,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $850,000 after acquiring an additional 5,867 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Unilever by 65.1% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 232,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,821,000 after acquiring an additional 91,511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Unilever by 70.6% in the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 15,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $895,000 after acquiring an additional 6,220 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UL has been the topic of several recent research reports. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Unilever in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Unilever in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Unilever in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.00.

Unilever Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UL opened at $60.47 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $61.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.63. Unilever PLC has a 1 year low of $54.32 and a 1 year high of $65.66. The company has a market capitalization of $148.36 billion, a PE ratio of 17.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.40.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.5175 per share. This represents a $2.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. This is a boost from Unilever’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Unilever’s payout ratio is currently 59.31%.

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.