Unilever PLC $UL Shares Sold by Advisors Capital Management LLC

Advisors Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 14.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 610,138 shares of the company’s stock after selling 106,334 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Unilever were worth $36,334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Unilever by 13.9% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,100,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,673,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,421,054 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Unilever by 2.5% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,925,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,787,000 after acquiring an additional 95,359 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Unilever by 7.1% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,340,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,911,000 after acquiring an additional 221,958 shares during the last quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Unilever by 6.8% during the first quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 3,070,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,870,000 after acquiring an additional 195,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Unilever by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,926,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,955,000 after acquiring an additional 14,083 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on UL. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Unilever in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded Unilever to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Unilever in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Finally, CICC Research started coverage on Unilever in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.00.

Unilever Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UL opened at $62.81 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $154.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $61.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.29. Unilever PLC has a 1 year low of $54.32 and a 1 year high of $65.87.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.5175 per share. This is a positive change from Unilever’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.31%.

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.