LMR Partners LLP Has $53.97 Million Stock Holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

LMR Partners LLP lowered its position in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 53.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 830,860 shares of the company’s stock after selling 970,068 shares during the quarter. Unilever accounts for 0.4% of LMR Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. LMR Partners LLP’s holdings in Unilever were worth $53,973,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Unilever by 26.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,384,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,145,000 after acquiring an additional 911,443 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Unilever by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,132,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,416,000 after purchasing an additional 668,913 shares in the last quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Unilever by 0.8% in the second quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management now owns 2,767,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,169,000 after buying an additional 22,325 shares in the last quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Unilever by 7.9% during the third quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 2,667,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,273,000 after buying an additional 194,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp raised its position in Unilever by 1,866.0% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,135,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,451,000 after acquiring an additional 2,027,221 shares in the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group raised Unilever to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America raised Unilever from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on Unilever in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Unilever currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.75.

Unilever Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UL opened at $57.40 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $62.59 and its 200-day moving average is $59.45. Unilever PLC has a 1-year low of $46.46 and a 1-year high of $65.87.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.4755 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. This is an increase from Unilever’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35.

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.