SevenBridge Financial Group LLC Cuts Stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

SevenBridge Financial Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 40,872 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,041 shares during the period. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Unilever were worth $2,408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UL. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Unilever by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 20,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares during the period. May Hill Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Unilever in the 4th quarter valued at about $296,000. OLD Mission Capital LLC raised its position in Unilever by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. OLD Mission Capital LLC now owns 184,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,435,000 after purchasing an additional 62,306 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Unilever in the 4th quarter valued at about $200,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Unilever by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 388,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,000,000 after buying an additional 5,781 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Unilever Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UL opened at $59.60 on Wednesday. Unilever PLC has a 12 month low of $46.46 and a 12 month high of $65.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $57.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.13.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

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

About Unilever

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.