Unilever Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:UL)

Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 4,544 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 299% compared to the average daily volume of 1,138 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UL. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Unilever by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,940,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,017,253,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214,563 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Unilever by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,906,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,317,000 after buying an additional 257,538 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Unilever by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,103,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,345,000 after buying an additional 250,053 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Unilever by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,830,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,191,000 after buying an additional 327,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Unilever by 140.1% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,719,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,883,000 after acquiring an additional 2,170,242 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Unilever from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. DZ Bank raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.33.

Unilever Stock Up 4.8 %

NYSE:UL traded up $2.86 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $62.72. 2,298,850 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,534,300. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $57.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.14. Unilever has a one year low of $46.46 and a one year high of $65.87. The firm has a market cap of $155.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.42.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.4674 per share. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.01%.

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.