Seven Mile Advisory Acquires 336 Shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Seven Mile Advisory increased its holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,057 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the quarter. Seven Mile Advisory’s holdings in Unilever were worth $287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Auxano Advisors LLC grew its stake in Unilever by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 30,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Unilever by 155.2% in the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 8,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,000 after buying an additional 5,117 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Unilever by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 655,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,193,000 after acquiring an additional 9,528 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Unilever in the third quarter valued at approximately $11,694,000. Finally, Choreo LLC grew its holdings in Unilever by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 43,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,452,000 after purchasing an additional 6,404 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report 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. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Unilever from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.33.

Unilever Stock Performance

Shares of UL stock opened at $59.18 on Monday. Unilever PLC has a fifty-two week low of $46.46 and a fifty-two week high of $65.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.21.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.4674 per share. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Unilever’s payout ratio is 53.01%.

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.