Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires New Shares in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 209,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,895,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Unilever by 981.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,076,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,868,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,216 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Unilever by 7.1% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 16,726,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,086,547,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,177 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of Unilever by 493.4% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,105,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,785,000 after purchasing an additional 918,841 shares during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Unilever by 7,466.0% during the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 629,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,897,000 after purchasing an additional 621,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hamlin Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Unilever by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 2,874,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,008,000 after purchasing an additional 207,549 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada cut Unilever from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. DZ Bank upgraded Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Unilever in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.33.

Unilever Stock Performance

NYSE UL opened at $56.61 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $56.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.92. The company has a market cap of $140.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.50. Unilever PLC has a fifty-two week low of $46.46 and a fifty-two week high of $65.87.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.4674 dividend. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.