Wellington Management Group LLP Has $2.05 Billion Stake in Unilever PLC $UL

Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 9.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 34,665,544 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,935,227 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Unilever were worth $2,054,973,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of UL. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Unilever in the third quarter valued at $206,000. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Unilever by 172.2% during the third quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 18,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 11,621 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its position in shares of Unilever by 12.6% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 8,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 920 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Research Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Unilever by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Advisory Research Inc. now owns 107,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,356,000 after acquiring an additional 20,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Unilever by 102.7% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Unilever Stock Performance

Unilever stock opened at $64.01 on Friday. Unilever PLC has a fifty-two week low of $61.78 and a fifty-two week high of $74.97. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.11.

Unilever (NYSE:UL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.75 by ($1.00). The business had revenue of $11.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.39 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Unilever PLC will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.5547 per share. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. UBS Group restated a “sell” rating on shares of Unilever in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. DZ Bank cut Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Argus upgraded Unilever to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Unilever from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.55.

Unilever Profile

Unilever PLC is a global consumer goods company with roots dating back to the early 20th century, formed from the merger of the British firm Lever Brothers and the Dutch company Margarine Unie. The company develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded products in personal care, home care and foods and refreshments. Unilever’s corporate structure and listings reflect its long history in both the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and it operates at scale across diverse consumer markets worldwide.

Unilever’s business is organized around major product categories—Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care and Foods & Refreshment—and includes numerous well-known consumer brands across those categories.