Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Decreases Position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. decreased its position in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,504 shares of the company’s stock after selling 475 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Unilever were worth $596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unilever in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Unilever during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Unilever during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Unilever in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Unilever in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Unilever Price Performance

Shares of UL stock opened at $59.18 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $146.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.96, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47. Unilever PLC has a 1 year low of $46.46 and a 1 year high of $65.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $57.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.21.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.