Bleakley Financial Group LLC Increases Stake in Unilever PLC $UL

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 68,049 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,379 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Unilever were worth $4,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Unilever by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Unilever by 24.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $782,000 after buying an additional 2,544 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Unilever by 0.8% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 87,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,221,000 after buying an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Unilever by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 61,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,658,000 after buying an additional 6,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners raised its position in Unilever by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $764,000 after buying an additional 2,330 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Unilever in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. CICC Research assumed coverage on shares of Unilever in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Unilever in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Unilever from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

Unilever Trading Up 0.2%

UL opened at $62.28 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $61.58 and its 200 day moving average is $61.75. The company has a market cap of $152.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.85, a PEG ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 0.40. Unilever PLC has a 12-month low of $54.32 and a 12-month high of $65.66.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.5175 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.07 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from Unilever’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio is 59.31%.

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.