Summit Global Investments Has $3.45 Million Stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Summit Global Investments increased its stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 58.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,779 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,340 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Unilever were worth $3,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of UL. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Unilever by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 15,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 2,001 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Unilever in the third quarter valued at $11,133,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Unilever by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 7,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its position in Unilever by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 7,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its stake in shares of Unilever by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 19,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,248,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Unilever from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Unilever has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.33.

Unilever Trading Down 1.0 %

UL opened at $58.64 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.53. Unilever PLC has a 1-year low of $46.46 and a 1-year high of $65.87. The stock has a market cap of $145.50 billion, a PE ratio of 16.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.4674 per share. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.