Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 406 Shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 36,547 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 406 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Unilever were worth $2,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Unilever in the fourth quarter valued at $1,125,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Unilever in the fourth quarter valued at $210,000. SPC Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Unilever by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 5,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Unilever by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 654,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,133,000 after acquiring an additional 15,392 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in Unilever by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 55,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,120,000 after buying an additional 4,399 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Unilever Stock Performance

NYSE UL opened at $58.38 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $144.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.86. Unilever PLC has a one year low of $46.46 and a one year high of $65.87.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.4674 per share. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on UL. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Unilever in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. DZ Bank raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Unilever from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.33.

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.