Stonegate Investment Group LLC Acquires Shares of 4,065 Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of UL. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Unilever by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,494,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,672,275,000 after buying an additional 1,114,417 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Unilever by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,843,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $525,716,000 after acquiring an additional 965,173 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Unilever by 6.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,548,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,293,000 after acquiring an additional 515,088 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in Unilever by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 6,548,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,459,000 after acquiring an additional 329,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Unilever by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,748,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,734 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on UL. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Unilever from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com lowered Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.00.

Unilever Trading Up 0.7 %

Unilever stock traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $51.87. 3,005,628 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,896,179. Unilever PLC has a 12 month low of $46.16 and a 12 month high of $55.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $49.14 and a 200 day moving average of $48.61. The firm has a market cap of $129.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.45.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.4556 per share. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.83%.

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.