Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Trims Holdings in Unilever PLC $UL

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,526 shares of the company’s stock after selling 307 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Unilever were worth $277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Unilever by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 226,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,883,000 after buying an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Unilever by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $517,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Unilever during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $980,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Unilever by 41.9% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 7,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 2,085 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abundance Wealth Counselors boosted its stake in shares of Unilever by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors now owns 25,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,536,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unilever Stock Performance

UL stock opened at $59.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.40. Unilever PLC has a 1 year low of $54.32 and a 1 year high of $65.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.61.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $0.5175 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Unilever’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on UL shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Unilever in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Unilever in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. CICC Research initiated coverage on Unilever in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.00.

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.