May Hill Capital LLC Takes $296,000 Position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

May Hill Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 5,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Unilever by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management lifted its position in Unilever by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 6,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Unilever by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 9,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $565,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Unilever by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 5,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Unilever by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 2,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Unilever Stock Performance

Unilever stock opened at $59.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $57.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.13. Unilever PLC has a fifty-two week low of $46.46 and a fifty-two week high of $65.87. The company has a market capitalization of $147.65 billion, a PE ratio of 17.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.4674 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.01%.

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.